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“Well…” John sat back, tenting his fingers. “The plot thickens…”
“Tell me.” My voice was hoarse. “How did you meet?”
“Teaching, of course. We got along well, and his wife and mine became fast friends.” John had a faraway, nostalgic look in his eyes. “But Tyler—his name isn’t really Tyler, you know. It’s Dennis. Dennis something… I can’t remember anymore. Tyler Vincent is a stage name. But he always wanted to be famous, even then.”
“How long did you know him?”
“As long as I lived in Maine.” John’s expression changed, his brow knitted. “We moved to Seattle—I got another teaching position—about four years ago I guess.”
“So you kept in touch?”
“Still do. When my wife and I were still married, he’d invite the four of us out to his summer home for a week or two.”
“Four of you?” I asked, puzzled.
“Myself, my wife, Dale and Chrissy,” he explained. It still didn’t clear things up and it must have been apparent by my expression. “Chrissy is my daughter. She’s living with her mother back in Maine.”
“Oh.” Now I felt really stupid. Dale had a sister?
How much had he kept from me? How much had I not listened to? Or even asked?
I felt something heavy churning in my stomach.
“Once Stacy and I split... well, it got a little messy. Tyler and I would just talk over a few beers on his front porch or mine,” John went on. I smiled. His words conjured up sweet images. “I don’t think Karen approved of the divorce—Karen is Tyler’s wife—especially the way the kids were split up. I also think I reminded her that her own marriage might not be infallible, and that reminder was a little too close to home.”
“I can’t believe you know him,” I said incredulously. It amused me John had told me Karen was Tyler’s wife, as if I needed telling. I read everything about him.
“Best friends,” John replied. “Over twenty years now.”
Suddenly something clicked in my head, and as much as I wanted to deny it, I knew it was the absolute truth. Tyler Vincent had been “the best friend” Dale had told me about—the one his mother was having an affair with for years. There was just too much evidence pointing in that direction—it had to be true. And the man in front of me still didn’t have any idea.
“Do you still keep in touch, now that you’re teaching at Rutgers?”
“We exchanged addresses, but he’s not much of a letter writer. Too busy, I suppose. Me, I’m not busy. I have Dale, and teaching, and you, and that’s about the extent of it. He’s written once or twice, plus a Christmas card. We talk occasionally. I asked him to get you those tickets you wanted, and he was happy to oblige.”
I stared at him, incredulous. Dale had asked his father, and of course, John had just called up his old friend, Tyler Vincent, and asked him for front row seats to their home town show.
And Dale had never said a word to me.
Why?
Of course, I knew. Even if I didn’t have Tyler Vincent plastered all over my walls, he might not have told me. Because Tyler Vincent was the man who had torn apart Dale’s family. Tyler Vincent was responsible for his parents’ divorce—even the separation from a sister I never even knew existed until today.
It can’t be true.
I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want to think for a minute that Tyler Vincent would ever do anything to hurt this sweet, kind man sitting in front of me. He would never hurt anyone. I couldn’t believe it, even if, in my heart, I knew it was the truth.
“I guess you and Dale have a lot to talk about.”
“If he’ll talk to me at all.” I glanced toward his bedroom. I wouldn’t know how to even begin, knowing now what I did. “When was the last time you talked to him?”
“Tyler?” John got up, going over and taking an envelope from the letter box in the kitchen. “This is the last letter I got from him. But if I let you read it, you have to promise to keep it a secret. Okay?”
I nodded, eager. I would have promised my firstborn child to Rumpelstiltskin for a chance to read that letter!
My hands trembled as I opened it. It was hard to believe it was happening. Someone close to me was close to Tyler Vincent. It made me shiver. I didn’t believe in fate, but this was the closest coincidence had ever come, as far as I could tell.
Aimee would say it was fate. Maybe it was after all.
