Page 250 of Saving Forever with the Hockey Captain

My heart pounds.

"She told you that?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

Another long silence. Finally, she smiles sadly. "Because I watched the way she looked at you."

I can't breathe.

"People don't look at someone like that unless they love them."

The hallway suddenly feels too small.

Too quiet.

Every conversation.

Every smile.

Every argument.

Every goodbye.

My mind races through them all.

Have I been wrong?

Have I misunderstood everything?

Mrs. Alvarez gently touches my arm.

"Go home, Jamie."

I look at her.

"And think about why a woman who loved helping everyone..."

She pauses.

"...might believe leaving was the only way she could help you."

I drive home with one question echoing through my head.

Not once.

Not twice.

A hundred times.

What if Annette never stopped loving me?

What if...

She left because she believed I deserved a future without her?

One thought refused to leave me.