“Kelly, you don’t have to.”
“I know,” he said. “But I think it’s important. I don’t have many friends and you’ve been a wonderful friend. I wanted you to know.”
Bernard looked at him. Kelly smiled. He’d come out of his shell with Bernard. He seemed reserved before, but now he was talking about a horrible part of his past.
“Well, my ex left those scars.”
Bernard stayed quiet. He didn’t know how to respond to this. He’d known men whose partners abused them, but none of them talked about it.
“He and I started dating when I was twenty. He was ten years older than me. It started out great. But two years into the relationship he…changed.”
Tears formed in Kelly’s eyes as he spoke. Bernard could only imagine how hard it was to go through the abuse and now to talk about it.
“It was little things at first. Just disregarding my feelings, or telling me I didn’t do the dishes right, or dinner wasn’t ready on time.”
Bernard sat in silence.
“He started putting cigars out on my chest and stomach,” Kelly choked. “During sex, he cut deep into my back with his nails.”
“Kelly, I don’t know what to say.”
“You listening is all I need.” Kelly took a deep breath and continued. “He berated me daily. He physically and emotionally abused me. You’d think a guy my size wouldn’t have put up with that. But I was twenty-two, and smaller. He was big, I mean huge. He scared me.” Kelly was crying now.
Bernard reached an arm around to comfort him. He watched this mountain of a man cry. Kelly made himself vulnerable. Bernard stayed silent, letting Kelly lead the conversation.
“For eight years I stayed. For eight years he abused me. I gained weight. I became depressed, and I let it continue.”
“Kelly, you can’t blame yourself. That man sounds evil.”
“I don’t blame myself anymore, but I did for a long time. I went to the police, but they laughed at me. Four years ago, I left him. I couldn’t bear to stay in the same town, so I moved here. John and Sarah helped.”
Bernard now had both arms wrapped around Kelly. His body jerked with each sob.
“So, I’m here and I’m healing. I have friends like you to help me.”
“Thank you for trusting me, it means a lot.”
“I wanted you to know, so you knew why I didn’t want to date. I think you’re a great guy, but what I’ve gone through still haunts me.”
“Rory asked if I would have dated you if we’d both been ready,” Bernard said. “I said I didn’t know.”
“Who knows. If things had been different, I might have considered a date. What I know now is you’ve become a wonderful friend, and that’s what I needed. I’m still not ready to date, but I know one day I’ll be ready. One day I’ll find someone special.”
“You will.”
“But you’re ready now,” Kelly said. “You told me you weren’t ready when we talked. But I know you were. You just needed the right man. That man is Rory. You belong together. You can’t let him go.”
“I—”
“No excuses,” Kelly said. “I lived a lie for years. I know what it’s like. You’ve been single for so many years, and you deserve happiness. You deserve love.”
Bernard tightened his grip around Kelly. Tears filled his eyes. Kelly was right. If this man, who’d been through hell and back with his ex, could see there was still hope for himself, then Bernard could do the same. He wanted nothing more than to be with Rory. He loved Rory but didn’t know how to get him back.
“So, I just have to figure out what to do. He’s probably still mad at me.”
“The best thing to do is let him know how sorry you are. Let him know you made a mistake and that you’ll be here when he’s ready. He will come around. He loves you.”
“Thanks, Kelly.”
