“He didn’t know.I didn’t tell him anything.”
“You were sixteen?”He sounds hurt, “How … Why …” He wipes his hand down his face and finds his words, “You should have stopped me.I wouldn’t have …” He turns around, facing away from me, his hands in his pockets.“I was barely twenty one, but you were only sixteen.You tried to tell me you were trouble; I should have known.”He turned back around to face me again, “I’m so sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Freddie.I didn’t stop you; I was hurt, and I wanted to drown in my misery.I wanted to forget what happened earlier and you just happened to be there to help me do that.It backfired on me, though, because I still lost the only guy I ever loved that night.”I shrugged and sat back down in my chair, prompting both of them to do the same.
Freddie clears his throat at that and goes on to tell us what happenedafterthat night; the part I didn’t know.“I went back to that bar every night for two weeks, looking for you.I knew you told me no strings attached and you didn’t want me to know your name, but I was kind of obsessed.I wanted to make sure you were okay; I remember you were crying, and I tried to comfort you, but you turned away from me.I felt so bad that I wasn’t the one you wanted, so I let you sleep.I thought maybe we could talk about it in the morning, maybe I could help you find this guy that you wanted to be with instead of me, but when I woke up and you were gone, I panicked.You didn’t leave anything behind, there was no trace of you and the only thing I could think of was to go back to the bar and hope that you would show up.
The night I met Maggie, she tried to pick me up and I told her that I was only there because I was looking for someone I had met before.Maggie was there hoping to find someone new that didn’t know anything about her.She stayed to talk to me until the bar closed and she came back every night to sit with me while I looked for you.We actually bonded over her stories about her previous relationship, but it never clicked that the Lee in her stories was the same Lee that Ellie was with.
Oh man, if Maggie ever found out that she was second best to you for both of us…" he waved his hand between himself and Lee while shaking his head.“She’d flip out and probably never talk to any of us again.”He slapped the table with one hand and looked over at me.”You know what?I just realized that Maggie was underage too.How the fuck were you all getting into that bar?”
We all laughed at that, and with the air clear between us, we left the past outside and walked back into the house.
I had no idea what Freddie would think of me after I left him, but it never occurred to me that he was concerned about my wellbeing.He heard me crying, and he tried to comfort me.It made me think differently about him.When I looked back at that night, like I so often did over the years, I always thought he was just some guy out looking for an easy lay, but I was wrong.I’m glad he found comfort in Maggie after I left him and I’m glad he’s Carrie’s dad – and not Dylan’s.
Chapter Forty-Three
LEE
6 months later
It’s been six months since I accepted the transfer in my job location, six months since I found out that I’m the father of an incredible young man, and six months since I was reunited with the only woman who has ever made my heart stop and beat faster in the same minute.
I have fallen in love with life again and I’ve started to see all the beautiful things that I dreamed of having come to reality.
Today is my birthday.I just turned thirty six.Most men my age are thinking their lives are half over, but me – I feel like my life has just begun.Despite not wanting to take anything slow with me and Ellie, I decided to hold off on asking her to marry me until I knew for certain that she wanted me in her life.I think I knew that the first night I spent back in her arms, but I couldn’t help but take my time and plan out the most perfect,Hallmarkmovie worthy proposal I could muster.I had to enlist Dylan and Carrie’s help to pull it off, and it had to be tonight, on the twenty first anniversary of the night we met.
I’m sitting at a table in the bowling alley with a diamond ring burning a hole in my pocket and my heart pounding away as I watch her walk toward me.That instant flame reignited when our eyes locked and she smiled.
Damn!Those eyes.
Big Brown Eyes.
I’ll stay lost in those eyes forever.
The moment that she stepped in front of me, my plan rolled into action.I smiled, kissed her cheek and held out a pair of bowling shoes for her.We sat to put them on.
“You know, today is my birthday.I just turned thirty six.”I tell her and she shakes her head, smiling while she finishes tying her shoe.
“Happy birthday.What did you wish for?”When she looked up, I was down on one knee, holding the ring in my hand.
“A future of stinky, borrowed bowling shoes with you by my side for the rest of our lives.”
She dropped to the floor with me, eyes glistening with tears, and she nodded her head.
“Yes?”I asked.
“Yes!I would spend a hundred lifetimes in these disgusting shoes if it meant you were by my side!”She kissed me, and I slowly pushed the ring on her finger.I think this is now my favorite birthday ever.
* * *
Lying in bed that night, Ellie was twisting the ring around on her finger, I could tell her mind was going a mile a minute.
“Whatchya thinking?”I ask.
“I can’t stop thinking about everything,” she murmurs.“About where we’re headed, about what we’ve gone through to get here and how the world has been working against us since we met.”
I reach out, gently tracing the lines of her hand with mine.
