He reached for her hand. “It’ll be okay. Everything’s been so crazy leading up to this wedding.”
Her stare turned glassy. “Can I ask you something?”
The moment of truth. “Anything. In fact, I—”
“Are you in love with me, Lance?” Andrea asked, cocking her head to the side.
His lips parted. “Why would you ask that?”
She peeled her hand away from his. “I had a long talk with my mother last night before bed. Yours had me thinking, so I called mine. My mom wasn’t the best example to me with relationships. She was too career-oriented, but she told me that when a man loves, he has a certain look in his eyes. The way he shows affection makes a woman feel as if she’s the only one in the world.” She leaned forward. “Do I do that for you?”
Lance unbuttoned a button from his collared shirt. “You took my breath away when we met.”
She bobbed her head. “I’m wondering if that’s enough. You know... to sustain a marriage.” Andrea sighed. “I guess I’m wondering if I have what it takes.”
“You do. You have a good heart. Don’t worry about that.”
“So... yesterday in the interview?” She swallowed. “That was her, wasn’t it? Your first wife?” Andrea asked.
He released a heavy sigh. It was a subject that he’d buried like valued treasure. Lance’s shoulders slumped. There it was in a nutshell.
No use denying it. They’d spent too much time together. His heart pounded as the truth stared about him like calves in a pen. “How long have you known?”
Andrea twisted her engagement ring. “You’ve never looked at me the way you did her, Lance.” She asked the fateful question. “What happened between you two? I know you divorced young, but why?”
Lance told Andrea everything. From the day Chantelle told him she was pregnant all the way to the night they lost their child. He squeezed his eyes shut, recalling her red eyes from the tears she’d shed.
Andrea took his hand. “Why didn’t you tell me about the baby?”
“Too painful.”
“If you still cared, why didn’t you stay? Why did you—”
“I was a boy, Andrea. I believed my parents. Chantelle left, and I haven’t talked to her since. She visits her family, but we were done.”
“Are you?” She asked.
Lance licked his lips, stroking her hand with his.
“You’re still in love with her, Lance. After all these years,” Andre
a said.
It was the truth. Chantelle wasn’t only his first love. She was the love of his life. “I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
Andrea didn’t say a word.
A weight settled on Lance’s chest. He’d hurt her. Hadn’t he hurt enough women in his lifetime? He searched for the right words to say, but how could he clean this up?
Andrea gave a mirthless laugh. “Perhaps we listened to our friends and family too much. They kept saying we were perfect for each other.”
“What?” He blinked. He expected tears from Andrea. Wasn’t she angry?
“Think about it, Lance. How many people were in our ear for us to get married? Your parents. My mom. Can we honestly say this was something we both wanted? Honestly?”
He blinked. “I thought I did.”
“Me too.”