The two of them stare at me like I just cracked the code to winning the Stanley Cup. Their faces are exact mirrors of one another—mouths hanging open at the bomb I just dropped.
I’ve told exactly four people in the world that Harper and I were married. Three of them are no longer here. And the other?
Well, my mom hates Harper, so that is a topic that won’t be coming up any time soon.
“Either of you going to say anything?”
“You were married? How did we not know this?” Graham asks, still shocked.
I shake my head and take another sip of my drink. “I don’t like talking about it. We did it in Vegas after my first NHL game.”
“What happened?” Graham asks.
Noah smacks him on the back of the head. “It’s a good thing you’re cute because you need to stop interrupting and let Marcus tell us.”
“I mean, you’re both interrupting me, so really, Graham should smack you on the head too.”
Noah throws his hands up in defense immediately. “Hey, I’ve had concussions. Don’t hurt me.”
“So that woman?” Graham ignores Noah, turning his attention back to me. “She’s your ex-wife?”
I nod. “She was.”
“What did she want with you then? Can’t say I’d be hanging around my ex,” Noah says.
“Apparently we are still married.”
“Wait. She is actually your wife? Not yourex-wife?” Graham clarifies. “Shit.”
“Yeah.”
“Why’d you two get divorced?” Noah asks. “Or not divorced, in your case.”
I blow out a breath and stare into my drink. This is the part I really don’t like talking about.
“I left because my sister and brother-in-law died in a car accident, and a few days later my dad died of a heart attack.”
More silence.
Shit. I really do need something stronger than sparkling water as I swallow down the rest of the liquid.
Both of them are staring at me with a mix of pity and sympathy.
“And Sam and Sadie?” Graham asks. “They were your sister’s kids? I always assumed they were yours.”
“Not many guys are around from back then. Jasper and Bode know, but that’s it. And I swore them to secrecy because I don’t like the pity. My sister and I always said if anything happened to either one of us, the other would take our kids. I never thought it would happen.”
Noah takes a sip of his drink before wiping his mouth and leaning close. “Why did you leave your wife then? Couldn’t she have helped?”
“We were twenty-two. She didn’t deserve that. Besides, I didn’t think we were legally married. But now that turned out to be untrue.”
It’s a decision that I question on the hard days. When the girls are sick or they are fighting to the point of pulling each other’s hair out.
Would this have been easier with Harper?
Did I cut my losses before she inevitably left me?
I don’t like thinking about it, but now that she’s back, it has me wondering.
