“She kept postponing the truth because she thought she had time,” I said. “You knew exactly what that cost her, and you did the same thing to me.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
He couldn’t answer.
I started toward the hotel.
Robert followed.
“Irene.”
I stopped.
“You haven’t called me that all night.”
“What?”
“My name.”
He looked confused.
“You keep saying you were afraid, you were shocked, you didn’t know how. Everything is about how hard this was for you.”
“Irene…”
“You found out you had a son. You found out he’d died before you ever met him. You found a granddaughter. I understand that this was devastating.”
“It was.”
“But you had a wife.”
He lowered his head.
“You had someone who had spent 40 years standing beside you. And you decided this part of your life was none of my business.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“It was exactly like that.”
The next morning, someone knocked on our hotel door.
Robert was in the shower.
I opened it.
A young woman with dark hair and brown eyes stood in the hallway.
She looked nervous. “Hi.”
I knew immediately.
“Ariella?”
“Yes.”
She glanced behind me.
“Is Robert here?”
Robert came out of the bathroom.
When he saw her, he smiled. “Ariella.”
She smiled uncertainly. “I came.”
Then she looked at me.
“I’m sorry. He called me last night and asked me to come this morning and meet you.”
I asked, “You knew about me?”
Her smile disappeared. “Of course.”
I turned toward Robert.
Ariella looked between us. “What’s wrong?”
I asked her, “Did you know I didn’t know about you?”
She looked at Robert.
“You told me she knew.”
Robert closed his eyes.
Ariella stepped backward. “What?”
He said, “I told you she knew I was dealing with something from my past.”
“No.”
Her voice sharpened.
“You told me she knew about me.”
“I didn’t say exactly that.”
“You absolutely made me think that.”
Ariella looked at me.
“I’m sorry.”
