Well, I had questions too. “You married Isabella? How could you?” My voice cracked.
He lowered his eyebrows at me. “Because you died, Brooklyn.”
I shook my head. That wasn’t an answer. He didn’t do that because of me.
Penny walked back over to us. She put a hand on James’ shoulder.
He turned to her. “I don’t understand.”
“We ran into each other at the zoo,” Penny said. “I thought…I knew she looked familiar.” She turned back to me. “Matt showed me pictures of you. But I didn’t…I hadn’t caught her name. I just knew Scarlett liked her son and…”
“You have a kid?” James asked. He looked down at my hand. “You’re married? Does Matt know?”
I shook my head.
He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket.
“James, please don’t,” I said.
“He deserves to know.” He put his phone to his ear.
“I’m going to tell him. But not like this. Please, I have to do it myself.”
James didn’t put his phone down.
I looked over to Penny for help.
“James,” Penny said and stepped between us. “I think maybe you should talk to Brooklyn first. Hear her story. I don’t think anything is what you think it is.”
He kept the phone to his ear.
“Please just let her explain,” Penny said. “We’ll call Matt later, okay? Right after. Please. And she just said she’s going to talk to Matt. Right?” Penny asked and looked back over at me.
“Yes.” I was. Just…not like this.
James slowly lowered the phone. “Brooklyn…” he shook his head. “You ruined his life.”
I swallowed hard. “I don’t think you have the right story there.”
He stared at me.
“You have it all backwards. Matt broke my heart.”
Homecoming - Chapter 19
Wednesday
Matt
I was just about to answer the call when James ended it. “I wonder what he wanted,” I said.
Rob shrugged. “I don’t know. I was actually just about to head over there for lunch. Want to come with me to find out?”
I stared at him as he ate a bite of his hotdog. “Is this not lunch?”
“No,” he said as we walked away from the hotdog stand. “This is an appetizer. I want whatever Ellen’s making for lunch.”
I laughed. “Wait, do you always go over to their apartment on hot dog days?”
