AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sí.”
William drew closer, his eyes searching Antonio’s face.
“You stupid bastard.”
After the letter William had written him, the edges now worn, the ink faded from being unfolded, read and refolded so many times, he hadn’t expected to hear such words from his former friend. “What?”
“Did you even read the letter I wrote you back?”
Antonio frowned, aware that four pairs of eyes were watching him intently.
“Yes. Doesn’t change that I caused the car accident that left you disabled, William. You didn’t want to go that night, and I pushed you.” His hand jabbed toward the cane. “If I hadn’t pushed you, you wouldn’t need that thing.”
William frowned. “I didn’t want to go because I had just broken up with Abigail and was wallowing in self-pity. But I agreed, didn’t I? And as I recall, I was egging you on, telling you to go faster.”
A dim echo sounded in his head. William’s voice.Seriously? I came out for you to drive like anabuela? Punch it!
William walked around the desk and put his hand on Antonio’s shoulder. If he saw Antonio flinch, he didn’t mention it.
“I’ve moved on, Tony.” A grin split his face. “I’m in my final year of medical school in America. The accident set me on a path I’d never even thought of. This time next year, I’ll be completing my residency in pediatrics.”
Antonio swallowed hard. “I didn’t know.”
“I figured after you didn’t respond to my last letter that you didn’t have an interest in being friends anymore.” The grin disappeared as William’s jaw tightened. “I had no idea it was because you were still carrying so much guilt. And if that’s the reason you’re no longer with Anna, then you’re a damned fool.”
A muscle ticced in Antonio’s cheek. “The doctor told me you didn’t remember what happened. But I do. I relive it over and over again. The pain I caused you, the time I stole from you. Do you know why I asked you to go with me that night?” he bit out. Suddenly, he didn’t care. Let them know everything. Then they could all know what he’d known all along; that he was unworthy. “Because I was falling for Anna. My best friend, seventeen years old, still in school, and I wanted to go do something wild so I could stop thinking about her.”
The words hung in the air, so silent, he could hear the varied breathing of everyone staring at him.
Alejandro broke the silence.
“Good God, man, that’s why?”
“Yes,” Antonio snapped. “Even if I didn’t deserve to be happy after what I did, I’m too selfish for someone like Anna. She deserves the best. That’s not me. Never will be.”
“Antonio, there was only two years difference between you two,” Adrian pointed out matter-of-factly. “Had you dated her the year before, you would have both still been in school.”
When phrased like that, his attraction suddenly didn’t seem nearly so illicit. Yet he’d felt so much older that summer, more worldly after his year away.
“Have you seen how I used to deal with bad situations?” Alejandro broke in.
“Chandelier in Vegas,” Adrian muttered.
“Everyone brings that up.” Alejandro’s grin said he didn’t mind. “Going fast on a mountain road is nothing.” A grimace crossed his face. “I can’t count the number of times I could have seriously hurt someone with the way I used to behave. You just had bad luck to have the first time you tried to rebel result in something dire.”
“But I didn’t do things like that, period. I was the good son.”
“Oh, Antonio.” Isabella’s eyes welled with tears. “You are a good son, but that doesn’t mean you had to be perfect.”
His throat closed. “I never wanted to hurt you. I wanted to make you happy.”
“And you do!” Isabella moved forward and cupped his face in his hands. “How did I not notice that you took on such responsibility? My happiness was my own to manage. That I refused to see the problems your father and I had, or not communicate with your brothers, was my burden to bear, not yours.”
“Nor was it your responsibility to try to fill the gaps Alejandro and I left,” Adrian said. A slight smile crossed his face. “Remember how you told me years ago you hated being in debt to us for helping you and William that night? I’ve just realized that he and I are in your debt for seeing what we couldn’t and trying to fix the pain we caused our family.”
“Plus,” Alejandro added, “if you think you’re too selfish for Anna, I’d say trying to be the perfect son for years to make our mother happy nixes that thought. Which means you need to call her, grovel, and hope she’ll take you back.”
As the words of his loved ones sank in, the ties that had kept him bound loosened, fell away. A lightness crept in, regret and shock and relief swirling together in a heady combination.
