“Oh my goodness. This is the best news that I’ve heard in a while. I have just the perfect way to celebrate, honey.”
“We will tonight, but first, I have another surprise. I got home about a half hour ago. I didn’t hear you, but I decided to grill our dinner since you hadn’t cooked.”
“You didn’t have to do that. I haven’t had much of an appetite.”
“Why?”
Shrugging, I climbed off his lap and replied, “I don’t know. I just don’t.”
He stared at me for several long seconds before he reached for my hand. I gave it to him, and he pulled me from the bed. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“To have a date night in the backyard to celebrate me making detective and you getting your website up and running.”
“Aww. You’re so sweet.”
We went out twice a week to various restaurants and to the movies. We hadn’t had a date night at home in a while.
I sat on the chair at the patio table while he manned the grill.
“I’ve been told that I’m a good listener. You really can tell me what’s going on with you.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at me.
“I recall a night like this one exactly one month and two days ago that you didn’t give me that same consideration. You didn’t share with me what was on your mind, but I knew that you were upset about something. You came home drunk. I took your pain and absorbed it all, and yet, you still haven’t told me what was bothering you that night. I feel that I’m an open book with you, Deuce, but you shut me out.”
He slowly lowered the lid on the grill and came to sit with me.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that bothered you, and I was being selfish. What do you want to know?”
“What was bothering you that night? What often has you becoming a recluse and shutting the world out? What had youcrying that first night that I came to you? Who is the woman who hurt you so badly?”
He sighed and just stared at me for several long seconds. I was prepared for him to tell me to mind my business, because that was what he had always done. I wasn’t prepared for him to rest his elbows on the table, drag his hands down his face, stare at me again, and then say, “Okay.”
“Okay what.”
“The night that I came home drunk was because it was the birthday of someone I loved. It was hard that day because no matter what I did, I was always reminded of her. I uhm, . . . was crying that one night because of the same woman, and she’s also the one who causes me to shut down when I do every now and then.”
“Who was she to you? Were you married?” I had often wondered if he was ever married and then had a painful divorce that he didn’t want to talk about. I hadn’t seen any photos of a woman around his house.
“She was someone very special who I was involved with. No, I wasn’t married to her or engaged to her. But uhm, she was, well, I loved her. She was my best friend and the one person I trusted with my heart.”
“What happened to her? Did she break it off with you?”
His lips turned down, and I could tell that it was painful for him to talk about.
“No. She was taken from me too soon.” Just the way that he choked those words out, I could tell that it was still painful for him to discuss.
“Do you still love her?”
He looked into my eyes and replied, “I do.”
“Thank you for your honesty. Am I in jeopardy of losing you to her if she returns?”
Something flickered in his gaze, but then he shook his head firmly. “You never have to worry about that, Sevyn. A part of me might always love her, but I love you, and I’m falling more in love with you every day. You’re who I want. I’m happy with you, and I can’t imagine losing you. So don’t even go there, okay?”
