“Is that why you took her there?”
“One of the reasons,” Shane said. “That place brought up some deep memories. Going back through it with her and Kevin... I could see all of us as kids. Playing soldier. Pretending we were invincible.”
Ben huffed. “Funny how that all turned out, huh?”
“Yeah,” Shane said. “Sure is.”
He went quiet a moment, then added, “I’m still haunted by the day April left.”
Ben nodded. “Yeah. I know you are, brother. Never should’ve happened.”
“I’m thankful you stepped up?—”
Ben waved him off.
“I wasn’t,” Shane admitted.
Ben scrubbed a hand across his face. “Your dad met me at the door. I was expecting you. He told me you’d changed your mind and shoved an envelope full of money into my hands. Told me to head to the bus station and give it to her.”
“I had no idea, Ben. No idea you were walking into all that.”
“I didn’t know you were lying in a hospital bed,” Ben said quietly. “Didn’t know you’d been there since the night before. That that bastard put you there.”
Shane grimaced. “He lied to them, you know. Told the staff I was having a psychotic break. He caught me trying to kill myself. Said he was trying to restrain me.”
Ben didn’t say anything, just listened to him.
“They believed him,” Shane said bitterly. “He showed them the defensive wounds on his arms, claimed I’d attacked him. I was covered in bruises. Covered in my own defense wounds. They fucking believedhim.”
He looked down at the table. “I did fight back—unfortunately. I should’ve just taken the knocks, not given him anything to use against me.”
Shane’s jaw clenched. “So not only was I hospitalized for the beating, they put me on a seventy-two-hour psych hold. They drugged me. I spent two months in that mental wing.”
His voice dropped. “Just long enough for her to disappear. Just long enough to break me. After that, I did whatever my father told me. Took me another couple years to snap out of it.”
He looked up. “It was April. She was the one. I realized I couldn’t live without her. I spent years trying to find her, Ben. And when I found out she was back in Lyons—back home—that’s when I got scared.”
“Scared she’d turn you away?” Ben asked.
“Yeah.”
“But she didn’t.”
Shane shook his head. “No. She didn’t. She’s a hell of a lot stronger than I’ve ever been. And she’ll never give herself credit for that.”
“Then give yourself credit,” Ben said. “For being a good man today.”
They both looked back down at the sketch. “I’ve got an aquamarine stone the exact shade of a Colorado summer sky. It’ll go right there.” He pointed at a spot on the river ring. “I’ll have them done for you in a week, brother,” Ben said.
“I can’t thank you enough.”
Ben shrugged, looking away. “It’s my pleasure, man.” Then, more quietly, he added, “Don’t know if I’ll ever make one for myself.”
Shane gave him a look. “Man, you’ve gotta get over that, brother.”
Ben huffed a dry laugh.
“Look, I’ve known Charlie forever,” Shane continued. “I can?—”
