Roman - Lane Hart Page 0,39
good news and bad news. The good news is that Tessa is doing very well. She seems to really like the facility and has made a few friends with some of the other patients.”
“That’s great,” Paul agrees. “So, what’s the bad news? Are they going to keep her longer than a month?”
“We don’t really know right now how long she’ll be there,” I reply. “But the bad news is that…” I pause to retrieve the diamond ring from my pocket and then offer it to him. “The bad news is that Tessa wanted me to give this back to you. She’s so sorry, but she’s not ready to get married.”
“We don’t have to get married next Sunday!” he exclaims as he jumps to his feet, refusing to take the ring from me. “We can wait a few months or until next year…”
“Paul, I’m sorry, but Tessa isn’t just calling off the wedding. She wants to end things with you.”
“What?” he gasps as he lowers himself back down to the sofa. “End things? She doesn’t want to be with me?”
“I’m sorry,” I tell him. Getting up, I go over and grab his palm, turning it up so I can place the ring in the center and close his fingers back around it. “It’s possible Tessa could change her mind later on, maybe after she’s finished her treatment at the facility.”
“Why?” he asks softly. “Why is she pushing me away when all I want to do is hold her and be there for her?”
I wince when he says he wants to hold her, remembering what Tessa said about not being able to stomach letting him touch her right now. And for the first time, I start to believe that maybe she was right to end things with Paul. He won’t understand what she’s going through, no matter how hard he tries. Only those of us who were there know and get it. And it wouldn’t be fair for Tessa to have to try and explain what she went through to Paul. She shouldn’t have to talk to anyone about what happened and relive that nightmare.
“Go home, Paul. I’m going to stay however long it takes, and I’ll keep you updated, even if Tessa doesn’t want to talk to you just yet.”
“It feels wrong to leave her here,” he says as he holds the diamond between his fingers and studies it as if searching for answers as to what to do next.
“I know it does. But please believe that Tessa is doing what she thinks is best for you. She wants you to go on with your life.”
“How? How do I do that? I don’t want to go on with my life without her in it! Doesn’t she understand that?”
Now he’s getting angry. I try to recall all the stages of grief and hope for his sake that acceptance will be next.
“Yelling isn’t going to change things, man,” his brother Steven tells him.
“What else can I do but yell!” he shouts at him. “My fiancée just broke up with me and wouldn’t even tell me so herself!”
“Don’t be pissed at Tessa,” Steven says. “Be pissed at those assholes who took her. This is their fault. Just give her some time to heal. That’s what she needs now more than you.” Turning to me, Steven asks, “Is there any news? Have the police found them yet?”
“Ah, not that I know of,” I reply even though I’m rooting for the Savage Kings to get to those bastards first. That way Tessa will know for sure that they will never hurt her again. They’ll be dead with no chance of appeals or parole.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll let us know if and when they’re caught,” Steven says. “For now, we better get on the road and get home.”
“I’m sorry,” I say again. “I wish…I wish this never happened.”
“Yeah, so do I!” Paul yells. “And it wouldn’t have if you hadn’t brought her to this goddamn town!”
As soon as he puts all the blame squarely on my shoulders, he storms over and picks up his luggage before walking out the door, letting the screen slam behind him.
“He doesn’t mean that,” Steven tells me after he’s gone.
“Sure he does. It’s my fault. I agree.”
“No, it’s not, Charlotte. Paul is just looking for someone to be angry with, and you were standing right in front of him.”
“I never meant for this to happen,” I say as my chin trembles.
“I know. He knows that,” Steven says when he wraps his arms