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We were still standing in front of the venue, and I saw Leonard look inside the building. Through the glass, I could see Jason still standing in the brightly lit lobby, his hands in his pockets, watching us.
I clutched my purse and walked past Leonard, back into the building. Jason watched me approach him and his face shuttered.
“You’re lying,” I said, my voice steady.
He looked tired. “There’s no point to this conversation.”
“What conversation, Jason? We haven’t even talked. Tell me the truth—why are you lying to me?”
He didn’t answer.
“You had a ring!” My voice rose, and I stopped and took a breath. “You had a ring. I saw it, at the beach house. What happened? Where did you go when you left me there? What changed?”
“My mother tried to take her own life,” he said quietly. “I went to see her.” He looked at me long and hard. “I know.”
I stared at him, suddenly comprehending. I felt weak. How could I not have guessed? I closed my eyes and covered my face with my hands. “That’s why…oh God!”
He didn’t say anything, didn’t move. He waited until I uncovered my face and raised my gaze to his again. I read the sadness in his eyes. He knew, and he’d dealt with the knowledge alone, refusing to share it with me. I’d been concerned with sparing him the pain, and when he’d found it, he’d borne it alone.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why?” His voice was full of accusation. “You already knew.”
“If you know that, then you know I don’t care. You don’t get to decide, alone, what we’re doing about this. You don’t get to push me away.”
He laughed. “You’re one to talk. You kept it from me.”
“Because I was waiting for the right time.”
“And when would that have been?” He shook his head. “Go home,” he said softly. “This is for the best.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m not going to let you push me away. You love me.”
“Love?” He laughed, and it sounded like he was barely holding himself together. “Daphne, you are my life, but I’m not going to take yours away from you. Everything has changed.”
“No, it hasn’t,” I cried. “Nothing has changed for me.”
“Then you’re fooling yourself.”
I stared at him, unable to believe how willing he was to walk away from us.
“Did you get tested?”
He stared at me, and my heart shrank in fear, but then he shook his head and hope soared again.
“Then there’s a chance all this is over…nothing!”
“And there’s a chance it’s not. What then? What happens when we find out I’m going to lose my brain cells and become a burden to everyone who loves me?”
“You could never be a burden to me.”
He smiled bitterly. “Go home, Daphne.”
“No. What about what I want? You said you’d never leave me to be alone again. You said you’d stay if I asked you to. You made promises.”
“That I can’t keep.” His voice cracked. “What did you spend all your adult life trying to avoid, Daphne? Why did you spend all those years alone?”
I didn’t answer.
