He spoke to my back and I didn’t respond. If only Brian would let me be and not say anything else, I might be able to make it out of the room and to my car without bursting into tears. I knew he wouldn’t be so kind.
“She’s nuts. She rambles on in the letter about you coming to visit her at the castle and how much you would love the seventeenth century. Bri’s completely out of her mind. No wonder you two were such good friends.”
I kept my back to him as I reached for the door handle, and I swallowed the lump in my throat as he chuckled once more. “Goodbye, Brian.” I didn’t look back as I walked out the door, started the engine, and pulled out of the driveway as quickly as I could.
In the rearview mirror I could see his mistress, Leah, pulling into the driveway, replacing my spot in our home so quickly it was as if I’d never been there. I couldn’t bring myself to feel any hatred toward her. Only pity. God help her, the poor girl had no idea what she’d gotten herself into.
*
As much as I didn’t want to spend the night at Bri’s old home, especially after learning what Brian used it for, it relieved me to be able to cancel my hotel reservations. Classroom teachers made little. As a teacher’s aide, I made even less. I couldn’t move into my new apartment for another week, and with no family to stay with until then, I had no choice but to reserve a room at the shabbiest of hotels.
If it meant saving a little money, I could push away the memories that would flood me in Bri’s old home—Brian’s lovenest. Memories of nights spent with Brian when we’d been dating, before he sold the home to my friend. Memories of helping Bri paint and work away in the old bachelor pad until it was beautiful and perfect, just as she wished it. It’s not as if I planned on sleeping much anyway.
The flowers on the front porch that she tended to so carefully had long since died, and an uncomfortable pang knocked on my heart at the thought of how much I missed Bri. I still didn’t fully understand what happened to her. She was the classroom teacher, and I worked directly under her. She was also the closest friend I’d ever had. When she disappeared after accompanying her archaeologist mother on a dig in Scotland, it’s no stretch to say that I lost it a little.
When I finally found her after flying to Scotland, it was clear that she’d fallen madly in love. I saw how much her new husband, Eoin, adored her, and I couldn’t blame her a bit for leaving everything behind. I would’ve done the same.
I’d experienced love like that once, but it hadn’t been with Brian. What he said to me was true. The loss of the man that came before him, Jep, led me to settle for Brian.
I understood the love thing. What I didn’t understand was why Bri lied to me about it. She lied so confidently, weaving a story so detailed that I truly did want to believe her, but I couldn’t. People do not, and she did not, travel through time.
Anxious to read her letter, I turned the key and stepped inside the entryway. To my surprise, the place was immaculate. Well, at least the front part of the house was. Most likely, only one area of the house had been regularly used, and I would stay clear of that room.
I dropped my bag in the doorway, carrying only the letter into the living room with me as I slowly made my way around the room turning on the lights and lighting a few candles.
Once the room was properly lit and the smell of pumpkin-scented candles wafted sweetly through the air, I went into the kitchen and started water heating so that I could steep a large cup of tea. I was in desperate need of anything to soothe my frazzled nerves and angry heart.
It had been weeks since I’d slept properly. Now that the divorce was final and I was gone from Brian’s life, all of the stress, sadness, anxiety, and insomnia of the past days seemed to hit me at once.
After the kettle whistled and I poured the steaming water over a large cup filled with several tea bags, I all but collapsed onto the oversized sofa that sat in the middle of the living room. I reached out and felt for a coaster. After placing the cup of tea on it, I propped pillows up behind me so that I could sit up to read the letter.
I was incredibly curious to read its contents. I’d not heard a word from her since the wedding. She’d not even taken the time to say goodbye, slipping away during the middle of the reception. I was angry with her for that, but I supposed Bri had her reasons. And she did leave me a house which certainly counted for something, not that she could’ve known just how much I would need it. Or perhaps she had, and that was the very reason she left it for me. She’d never really liked Brian.