VERSUS (Second Chances 2)

I do.

Early this morning, while Eden was still fast asleep in her hospital bed and Noelle was by her side, I came to her condo.

I bought groceries, fresh coffee beans, and a bouquet of roses for the woman I love.

I wanted her to have everything she could ever possibly need.

I needed the same for myself, so I called Tony Girano and put him to work.

He was already digging into Eden’s ex-husband’s life for me. He unearthed a treasure trove of unsealed court records.

Aron Steiner stalked Eden when she broke free of him. He was arrested for that, but his evil had no bounds.

He threatened his second wife. He terrorized her with harassing phone calls and in-person visits despite a restraining order.

Her constant refusal to engage in a discussion with him sent him over the edge.

He assaulted a colleague of his.

Eden made the trip to Buffalo to speak at his parole hearing. It’s the second time she’s done that.

I glance down at the screen of my phone when another email from Tony comes through.

I click to open the attachment.

Disbelief clouds my vision. I blink a few times to focus.

It’s a death certificate.

Clark Dodson died seven years ago in Virginia. Cardiac arrest is listed as the manner of death.

He didn’t make it out of his twenties.

“Dylan?” Eden calls from the bedroom. “Are you here?”

“I’m here,” I say, pushing to my feet from the chair I settled in near her living room window. “I’ll always be here.”

***

I clear the plates after we both finish eating our dinner.

“Those pancakes were better than the place in New York.” Eden leans back on the soft leather couch. “You’re a great cook.”

I walk back into the living room. “Anyone can make pancakes.”

I take a seat beside her again.

Confessions cleanse the soul, but they can unleash destruction.

I can move forward with this woman with my secret intact. The only other person who knows what I did on the night of our graduation is dead.

Eden would never know, but I will always know that I’ve kept something from her.

“You know I was married, don’t you?” She tugs on the shoulder of the sweater she’s weari

ng. “I want to explain that.”

She doesn’t need to.