“Well, I believed everything he told me about his sister, too, so what does that make me? Because . . . he believed what he was saying, so there was no reason to doubt him. He thought the world of her, and I can tell you right now, he never thought of her in any way other than as his sister. Whatever she thought she had going on was on her side only.
“What’s your game plan, or don’t you have one? You know that I can stay on here as long as you all need me. My brothers told me to take as much time as I need. We’re a close bunch, so in a way I can identify with how close Andy was with Sara.
“See that red brick complex up ahead? That’s where my town house is. It took us forty minutes to drive here from the farmhouse where you were staying. That’s not a bad ride, and we did hit traffic.”
“Why did you pick this area to buy in?”
“It was what I could afford because I wanted to pay cash and not have a mortgage. I just wanted someplace to stay when I came back East. I’m not a fancy kind of guy, in case you haven’t noticed. I’m not into possessions and putting on the dog. I’m just a guy who’s making his way. Like I said, my family is pretty tight-knit. We’re all alike, which means we share and share alike. Andy liked that. He met my family. Now, he did say his sister would never fit into our brood. I was okay with that.
“Here’s the thing. I never met Sara. And yet I introduced him to my entire family. Everyone liked him, and he liked them. There were several times when Sara was in the area, and he could have introduced us. But he never did. Until now, I could never figure that out.
“That’s my town house on the left. I bet there are six inches of dust on everything, so I apologize ahead of time.”
“We could clean it. I don’t have anything to do, no plans except to go back to Pinewood and watch television. Do you have any cleaning supplies?”
“Are you kidding?” Paul asked in awe.
Bella giggled. “Do I sound like I’m kidding?”
“You’re blowing my mind here.” Paul chuckled. “But to answer your question, I bought the place from a retired schoolteacher who was moving to Florida. She left the entire contents. She even left me a bottle of aspirin in the bathroom medicine cabinet. Everything was in excellent condition, no wear or tear, and she said she was going to buy new stuff to fit the condo in sunny Florida. It was win-win for both of us. I personally think I got the better of the bargain,” Paul said, chuckling.
“Then I guess we’re good to go. After we check out the papers Andy gave you. That was pretty smart of you to make a copy.”
“That was Andy’s idea. I doubt I would have thought of it on my own. It was kind of wild that day. I think I told you that Andy made his flight with no time to spare. Truth be told, he almost forgot to give me that packet. He was so busy talking about you and the two days you had together. I really miss him. He was a truly great friend, one in a million. Everyone should have a friend like Andy,” Paul said, his voice choking up.
Bella stared out at the busy parking lot of the town house complex. “This is really hard to put into words, Paul. I don’t expect you will understand either because I don’t understand it myself . . . I don’t feel anything. I guess it was all those months of not hearing a word, hearing the other wives talk about the daily contact, the FaceTime. I made myself sick. At first I was crushed. I thought I was going to just lie down and die. I couldn’t function. I didn’t eat or sleep. All I did was cry.
“Then it all stopped. I was me again. It was like Andy was someone I used to know but not very well. Almost like he had moved away and forgotten to say goodbye. It probably doesn’t make sense to you because I couldn’t even figure it out. My feelings right now are all mixed up, and I blame it on Sara. I think I was jealous of her, in the beginning.