Crossroad to Love (Fab Five Series) - By Anna Kristell Page 0,52
the accident. Get him to talk about all of the events of that awful time. I felt that if we stood any kind of a chance at moving on together, the past needed to be laid to rest. You know that I also suffered a loss. My circumstances were different than Ryan’s. My marriage was good, and I lost a daughter also. I was prepared to discuss that with him too.”
Chloe asked, “And I take it, the conversation did go down that path?”
“Yes, it did. And everything was going fine. Ryan really opened up to me. He told me everything. He told me about his bitterness and his grief. He told me about how he had never been able to move on, how he had sworn off women, because he thought they were all basically like Marnie. He told me how meeting me had changed his mind. He feels he could move forward with me. He feels we have a special connection. I felt it too, from the first moment I laid eyes on him. It should have been a dream come true to hear those words from him. It was exactly what I had been hoping to hear. But now I think I know why I felt that connection.”
Confused, Chloe looked at Katy’s distraught face. “Katy, I’m afraid I don’t see the problem here. It sounds to me as if the evening turned out exactly the way we had all hoped it would. Shane and I were rooting for you, you know. And judging from the way Ryan was acting this morning at the restaurant, he is on cloud nine and not going to come down off it anytime soon.”
Katy smiled at Chloe. “Thank you for the vote of confidence. It was something that Ryan said at the end of the conversation that really threw me. I tried not to let on to him when I realized the implications of the details he was telling me. Chloe, the car that Marnie and her lover hit head on that night was the car that my husband and daughter were in. Ryan has no idea that I am the widow named Kathryn that he tried to contact ten years ago to offer his condolences to. He talked about how guilty he felt for their deaths and how he had never gotten over the fact that Marnie and her lover had not only taken their own lives that night, but also the lives of two innocent people, a husband and father, and most of all, a little girl in a Girl Scout uniform.” Katy wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up at her new friend with sadness in her eyes. “The man was my Bill and the little girl in the Girl Scout uniform was my Bree.”
Shock registered on Chloe’s face. After several minutes of silence, she said, “Oh, my God, Katy, I just don’t know what to say. You must have been stunned when you realized. Do you blame Ryan? How do you feel about him now? Surely, you realize it was not his fault?”
“Of course I don’t blame him. I came to terms with what happened years ago. I will love and miss Bill and Bree every day of my life, but that doesn’t mean I could in any way blame Ryan. I feel a very strong connection to him, especially now. I feel, as my friend Marianne would say, it was fate that brought us together at this time of our lives.”
“Then what is the problem?”
“I need to tell Ryan who I am. I’m not sure he will be able to handle it, with all the guilt he feels. I don’t want to lose him, Chloe, but he needs to know the truth and soon, before we move any further in this relationship. Maybe we weren’t meant to be lovers. Maybe we were just meant to meet each other.”
“Honey, he is already in way over his head with you. But you are right about one thing. You need to tell him, get everything out in the open. And if you can let him know that you don’t blame him for any of it and be honest about your feelings for him, it should be all right. I know he will be shocked, like you and I were, at hearing this news. But, knowing Ryan as I do, I think that once he is over the shock, and he is sure of your feelings, he will come around.