“I can’t believe this. You’re up here all over a woman while I’m down there waiting for you to go find out about our daughter.”
My eyes pop open and Brisban instantly straightens. Dawn’s face is red and streaked with tears. She looks like she’s aged so much since I saw her in New York City last year. As soon as she recognizes me, all the redness drains from her face and becomes a pale, milky white color. She waivers some and catches herself with the wall. I shoot up from the bed and take a step toward her.
“Dawn.”
She throws a hand up at me. “No, don’t. Don’t say anything to me.”
She’s visibly shaking and Brisban is so confused, he looks like he’s going to lose it.
“You know each other?” He looks back and forth between us in dismay.
I drop my head. “Yes.”
“She’s my editor. Has been for years,” Dawn, says.
I look up at him and everything I imagined it would be when he found out, turns out to be so much worse.
“You’re her editor?” He looks back to Dawn. “I thought Indie Edits was your editing service.”
“It is. She,” Dawn points at me, “is Indie Edits.”
“Dawn, I swear I had no idea who he was.”
She looks at me with nothing but disgust.
“It’s the truth. You’ve always been very private about your personal life. I had no idea who he was. You have to believe me.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She looks over at Brisban. “None of it matters.” Tears spill down her face. An expression of defeat settles on her face and she turns away, going back downstairs. She never even looks back.
“Brisban, I didn’t know. Until I saw the puzzle pieces and watch, I had no idea.”
He rubs his temples and winces. “I don’t even know what to say. This is all so much at one time I can’t process it. I’m sorry.”
“Please stop apologizing to me. You have things much more important to deal with right now. Go with her and find out about Willow.”
When I say her name he stills. “How do you know her name? And how do you know about the puzzle or watch?”
I let out a sigh. “I’m editing Dawn's story about your life together. I know everything.”
He stares at me, dumbfounded, as it hits him what that means. I know it all. Every intimate detail of his life with his wife and daughter are at home on my laptop.
“I have to go,” is all he says before turning to go down the stairs.
I walk over to the window and pull the drapes to the side a bit. I see him guiding Dawn down the outside walkway. His hand is on the small of her back and they fit together perfectly. Even more so, their pain fits together perfectly—two lost souls grieving for their child. A child, the piece of their family puzzle that’s forever lost to them, yet linking them for eternity.
I LOCK THE DOOR TO his condo and drop the key in his mail box with a note I wrote on a piece of paper from my purse.
Brisban,
Here’s your key. Thank you for trusting me with it, even if for only a moment. Please let me have some time to think and take time for yourself with all you have to deal with. I’ll miss you. Please know how very much I appreciate you and all our times together. You’re a special man with a generous heart. You’ve touched my life in a way I never expected. I’m forever grateful for that.
C—
Feelings of despair rest heavily upon my shoulders as I walk to my car. My cell phone buzzes and I pull it from my purse. It’s Janette.
Janette: How did it go? Or are you still there? The coat was a hit wasn’t it?
Me: Can I come over?
Janette: Now? Yes, why? What happened?
Me: Tell you when I get there. I just don’t want to go home right now. I'll need clothes when I get there.
Janette: K
I get in my car and drive in silence to Janette’s house. I can’t get the awful look on Dawn’s face out of my head. Then the way Brisban looked at me before he left; that look will be burned into my mind for a long time. What a disaster on so many levels.
Rain drops begin to fall and I almost laugh at the irony. A sad night and sad weather go together well. As I pull into Janette’s driveway it feels a little easier to breathe. She comes out onto her porch and I cut my lights and engine. I don’t even bother trying to shield myself from the rain. By the time I get to her porch I’m soaked.
“God, you look like hell. Get in here.” She opens the door and puts her arm around me as we go inside, the door springing shut behind us. “I laid clothes out in the bathroom for you. It’s just sweats and a t-shirt. They’re the most normal thing I have.”