Before You

“You didn’t want the divorce,” she said.

His hand dropped from the air, and he shoved it into his pocket. “During residency, I was at the hospital for days at a time without going home. Sometimes, we’d go that long without talking. I have no excuses. I should have tried harder to communicate.” He shook his head, disappointment evident in his expression. “Those were hard years, but they were behind us. I was an attending doctor at a hospital in Washington, DC, and I was working day shifts.”

She nodded toward his pocket. “You’re still wearing it.” Her voice softened, a dread tugging at her even stronger than before.

He pulled his hand out to look at the ring again, using his thumb to circle the band around his finger.

Honey didn’t know what the weight of that ring felt like. She didn’t know if she would miss the symbolism and the heaviness of it on her finger. She didn’t know how she’d feel if she was forced to take it off … like Andrew.

“I’m new here,” he said, now gazing at her. “And I’m single. When coworkers hear that, especially nurses, they instantly want to set you up. I came to Maine to practice medicine, and I wanted that to be the focus. You …” His stare deepened, and that boyish lightness returned to his face. “You were a wonderful accident.”

Honey didn’t let that distract her. She needed more, so she asked, “Haven’t people asked about your wife?”

“I’ve been here two weeks, and today is my first day off. The hospital has been so busy that no one has had a chance to ask.” When she opened her mouth to respond, he stopped her. “I know what you’re inquiring, Honey, and I have nothing to hide. If someone asks, they will get the same answer I just gave you.”

As she stared at the doctor, she just wanted him to give her something that would settle her, enough that she would consider going out with him. Because, right now, she wasn’t convinced he was over his ex-wife.

“Why are you wearing the ring tonight, Andrew?”

He took a step closer, tugging the ring off his finger, and when he reached her, he placed it on her palm. “Read the engraving on the inside.”

Honey held it up in the air and looked at the ornate script that had been etched into the gold metal.

Esther & Irving

March 23, 1946

After reading it several times, she glanced at Andrew. “I don’t understand.”

“This is my father’s wedding band. I’ve been wearing it on my right hand since he died six years ago. When I moved out of my house, I tossed my ring, and I put this one on my left hand.”

“I’m so sorry.”

And she was—for assuming, for automatically doubting him, for reacting instead of asking him the question.

She turned her focus back to the ring, studying the unique pattern. It looked like a French braid had been weaved across the front while it was solid in the back. In the bends of the metal were darker patches that showed the age of the band.

“It’s beautiful,” she said, returning it to him.

He secured it back on his finger and looked at her with the most honest eyes. “It’s been a year since we separated. She’s engaged to another man. I will always care about her, but I don’t love her anymore.”

Honey didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t know what the appropriate thing was to say. So, she did the only thing that felt right. She closed the small distance between them, and she hugged him.

“You look like you want to marry the man.”

Honey remembered Valentine saying that when she’d gotten off the phone with Andrew.

It had been true then.

And she suspected it was true again now.

SEVENTEEN

BILLIE

“OH MY GOD,” I gasped as the plane dipped for what felt like the millionth time. My stomach continued to drop, not getting used to the feeling even though it was happening every few seconds. “Why?” I said to Jared. “Why, why, why?”

I’d been saying that word over and over in my head.

It was time to say it to him, hoping he had an answer.

So far, not a single person on this plane knew anything. Not any of the other passengers or the one flight attendant who had passed down the aisle, holding a blood-soaked towel against a passenger’s head. When Jared had asked her what was happening, she’d told him she didn’t know.