“With your father?”
Aaron nodded.
“They married a few years after she moved. They were together until he died.”
“And London?”
“She loved it there.”
Patrick finally spoke.
“Did she regret leaving?”
Aaron considered him carefully.
“She never talked like she did.”
He paused.
“She talked about my dad, her work, friends, places she wanted to visit. You weren’t some shadow over her whole life.”
Lana had moved forward.
So why had Patrick hidden her from me?
I turned toward him.
“So this wasn’t about protecting her memory.”
“No.”
“Then who were you protecting?”
The answer seemed obvious now.
Patrick had carried the shame longer than Lana had carried the anger.
Before I could say anything else, Alice spoke.
“Mom, Dad, there’s something you don’t know.”
Patrick looked at her.
Alice glanced at Aaron first. He clearly already knew what she was about to say.
“I met Lana two months ago.”
Patrick’s expression changed instantly.
“You met her?”
NEXT PAGE
