“Never!”
I jumped.
Daniel stared toward the doorway.
Mark appeared holding his coat.
“I forgot my keys.”
Despite everything, I laughed.
One sharp, exhausted laugh.
Mark raised both hands.
“Never again. I swear.”
“Get out.”
“Going.”
He disappeared.
Daniel and I looked at each other.
Neither of us smiled for long.
Because the problem remained.
In the weeks afterward, we talked more than we had in years.
Not pleasant conversations.
Real ones.
Daniel told me everything about Joanna.
How they met.
Their first apartment.
The proposal.
The wedding plans.
The crash.
The hospital ceremony.
The funeral.
The years afterward.
Some details hurt.
I told him when they did.
Sometimes I became angry over things that had happened before I knew him.
Then I realized I wasn’t really angry about those memories.
I was angry because I should have been allowed to know they existed.
We started counseling.
Daniel did not resist.
