“My mom mentioned someone named Patrick once. Years ago. That’s all.”

Patrick’s attention returned to the tattoo.

“What did she say?”

Aaron’s expression tightened.

“That she’d loved someone when she was young.”

“And?”

“That he wasn’t ready to choose the same life she was.”

Patrick fell silent.

“Did she talk about me often?”

“No.”

Somehow, that made everything feel worse.

I stood and picked up two plates.

Patrick looked at me.

“Jess, leave them.”

“I need something to do.”

“You always do that when a conversation gets uncomfortable.”

He was right.

I put the plates back down.

“Fine. Then let’s keep talking.”

Patrick glanced toward Aaron, but I wasn’t going to let him hide behind the fact that we had company.

“Why did you and Lana break up?”

“Her family moved to London.”

I waited.

He knew me well enough to understand I wasn’t going to fill the silence for him.

Finally, he added, “She wanted me to go with her.”

Alice frowned.

“You were going to move to London?”

Patrick leaned back.

“That was the plan.”

Aaron’s expression changed, but he remained quiet.

I looked at Patrick.

“Whose plan?”

“Ours.”

So there had been a plan.

A promise.

“What happened?”

“I stayed.”

Alice stared at him.

“Did Lana know you weren’t coming?”

Patrick’s jaw tightened.

“Not at first.”

My stomach dropped.

“How long did she think you were going with her?”

He looked down at the table.

“A few months.”

“What were you telling her during those months?”

Patrick didn’t answer immediately.

“So she didn’t simply leave.”

He shook his head.

“No.”

“You told her you’d follow.”

“Yes.”

“Did you mean it?”

His eyes dropped.

“At first.”

Aaron leaned forward.

“You told my mom you were moving to London?”

Patrick looked at him.

“I did.”

Aaron seemed more confused than angry.

“She never told me that.”

“I don’t think she had any reason to.”

I kept my attention on Patrick.

“What changed?”

“My life was here. Work, my family, everything I’d built.”

“Then when did you tell Lana you weren’t going?”

Patrick hesitated.

Aaron noticed it too.

“You didn’t,” I said.

“I kept thinking I’d make up my mind.”

“You did, Patrick. You were already staying here.”

His jaw tightened.

“It didn’t feel that simple then.”

“So explain it.”

He stood and walked into the kitchen.

I followed before he could turn distance into another ending.

“How long did she wait?”

Patrick gripped the counter.

“Three months. Maybe four.”

Aaron appeared in the doorway behind me.

“My mother waited four months for you?”

Patrick looked at him.

“She deserved better.”

“What were you telling her?”

“That I needed more time. To leave, to stay, to admit I wanted to stay.”

“And every time she asked?”

“I told her I’d come soon.”

Aaron lowered his eyes.

“How did it end?” I asked.

“She called one night and said she couldn’t keep waiting for someone who wouldn’t choose.”

“And what did you say?”

Patrick swallowed.

“I told her maybe she’d made the choice for both of us when she left.”

Aaron stared at him.

Patrick didn’t try to defend himself.

“I was wrong.”

Then I remembered an old photograph I’d found years ago tucked inside one of Patrick’s books.

He’d been standing beside a dark-haired woman.

When I’d asked who they were, he’d said, “Just old friends.”

“That photograph.”

Patrick went still.

“The one I found in your book years ago. Lana was in it, wasn’t she?”

He didn’t answer.

Aaron looked between us.

“What photograph?”

I kept my eyes on Patrick.

“I handed it to you and asked who everyone was.”

“I remember.”

“You told me they were friends.”

Patrick rubbed a hand across his jaw.

“I didn’t want to explain who she was, Jess.”

“So you gave me a version that required no explanation.”

Patrick looked toward Aaron again.

“Did she ever talk about me?”

There was desperation in his voice now.

“Not enough for me to connect you to anything tonight.”

I looked at Aaron.

“You said Lana mentioned Patrick once. What exactly did she tell you?”

Aaron thought for a moment.

“That she’d loved someone before my dad. Someone she thought she’d build a life with.”

“Was she happy afterward?” I asked.

“Yeah. Very.”

“With your father?”

Aaron nodded.

“They married a few years after she moved. They were together until he died.”

“And London?”

“She loved it there.”

Patrick finally spoke.

“Did she regret leaving?”

Aaron considered him carefully.

“She never talked like she did.”

He paused.

“She talked about my dad, her work, friends, places she wanted to visit. You weren’t some shadow over her whole life.”

Lana had moved forward.

So why had Patrick hidden her from me?

I turned toward him.

“So this wasn’t about protecting her memory.”

“No.”

“Then who were you protecting?”

The answer seemed obvious now.

Patrick had carried the shame longer than Lana had carried the anger.

Before I could say anything else, Alice spoke.

“Mom, Dad, there’s something you don’t know.”

Patrick looked at her.

Alice glanced at Aaron first. He clearly already knew what she was about to say.

“I met Lana two months ago.”

Patrick’s expression changed instantly.

“You met her?”

“Aaron took me to see her while I was in London.”

Aaron nodded, his thumb brushing the edge of the tattoo.

“She wasn’t well by then, but she was having a good day.”

Alice looked down.

“She died three weeks later.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thank you,” Aaron said quietly.

Alice continued.

“Aaron stepped out for a few minutes while I was with her. Lana asked where I was from, so I told her.”

I watched Patrick closely.

“What happened?” I asked.

“We talked for a while. Then she looked at me for a long time.”

Patrick’s fingers tightened around the edge of the table.

“She said I had kind eyes.”

Her voice softened.

“Then she said there was something familiar about them.”

Patrick looked away first.

Aaron rubbed his thumb across Alice’s hand.

“I didn’t know she’d said that.”

“Why would I think it meant anything?” Alice said.

She looked at Patrick.

“Lana didn’t know who I was. She couldn’t have. I didn’t know who she was to Dad either.”

“She probably just saw something that reminded her of another time,” I said.

Alice nodded.

“Maybe. But after tonight, it feels different.”

Then she looked at me.

“This whole thing is completely crazy.”

“That’s one word for it.”

“But part of me is glad.”

I frowned.

“Glad?”

“That somehow our families crossed paths before either of us knew it.”

Aaron looked at her.

Alice squeezed his hand.

“I know that sounds strange.”

“It doesn’t,” I said.

She took a breath.

“I know three months doesn’t sound sensible. But it feels right when I’m with him.”

Aaron stayed quiet, which made me trust him more.

Alice looked at him, then back at me.

“Aaron’s lost both his parents. I’m not marrying him because I feel sorry for him.”

“I know.”

“Family just matters differently after that.”

I took her free hand.

“Then promise me something.”

“What?”

“Don’t marry him because you want to replace what he’s lost.”

“I won’t.”

“And don’t postpone your life because tonight frightened everybody.”

Her expression softened.

“So what are you telling me to do?”

“I’m telling you it’s your decision.”

“Jess, they’ve known each other for three months,” Patrick said.

I turned toward him.

“And they’re the ones who have to decide whether that’s enough.”

“I’m her father.”

“And I’m her mother. Neither title makes the marriage ours.”

Alice watched me.

I turned back to her.