“What's the meaning of this?” I asked carefully.
“I want to show you something in it,” she said and reached for the cover, flipping the book open.
Guardedly, I watched her turn the pages until she reached the picture of us dancing that had made me pause last time.
“When you were looking at it recently, you stopped on this page,” she told me.
I shrugged.
“Okay.”
Her smile softened.
“You didn’t go far enough,” she said.
She flipped once more.
It was a full page image. At first glance, there was nothing of note to it.In it, my arm was stretched out to hold Melissa’s hand. Ryan was standing next to me on my other side, nearly shoulder to shoulder and we were looking at each other.
And our gazes were so filled with love that it was undeniable.
“This was the picture that made me first realize,” Melissa said. “I was so excited to get the album, remember? Then it came and I saw this...”
I finally tore my gaze away, feeling shaken.
All this time...
“But Melissa, we got the album almost right after we got married.”
She forced another smile but it wavered and her eyes filled with tears.
“It wasn’t all bad. I got a couple months happily married to the man of my dreams.” The tears fell down her cheeks, but she brushed them away. “It was pretty magical for a while and I’m going to hold onto that. But I knew, you never once looked at me the way you looked at him, not just in that picture, but every time.”
I didn't know what to say. There wasnothingI could say. It was all true. I had always loved him. I just hadn't realized that that love could translate into something involving us being together.
And Melissa was the innocent bystander to our love… But now, she was finally being set free.
I shut the book and hoped she didn't mind a hug, because I gave her one, squeezing my eyes shut at the onslaught of emotions.
“I'm sorry,” I said but she shook her head and finally pulled back, wiping at tears again.
“I don't blame you,” she insisted. “That doesn't make it easier, but you can't help who you are, or who you love.”
I watched her for a moment, moved.
“You are so fucking smart,” I said. “Way too smart for me.”
She chuckled.
“Probably.”
I shook my head.
“Hopefully now that I'm not holding you back, you'll get to live the life that you deserve, Lissa.”
“I hope so,” she agreed.
I looked at her, then around at the house and life I'd built with her.
