The conversation drifted from there, turning into another pointless debate over whether he was being overprotective or I was being hardheaded. Neither of us was willing to admit the other had a point, and by the end of it, we were right back where we’d started.
The server returned with our drinks, and we placed our orders. Once she walked away, the conversation settled into something easier. Vice asked how I liked being back in Atlanta, and for once, the question didn’t feel loaded with anything else.
“It’s taking some getting used to,” I admitted. “I thought coming back would feel more familiar than it does.”
“How long you been gone?”
“Ten years… Ten long, long, long years…”
“That’s a long time.”
“It is. I visited, but visiting isn’t the same as living here. Everything changed while I was gone.”
“So why come back?”
I ran my finger along the top of my glass, already knowing there was no way to answer without mentioning Evan. “I needed a fresh start.”
Vice leaned back in his chair. “From your ex?”
My eyes moved to his. “You really don’t miss much, do you?”
“You said you were with him ten years.”
“I don’t remember telling you that.”
“You mentioned it at the hospital.”
I thought back to that night and vaguely remembered saying something about having spent ten years with the wrong man. At the time, I’d been exhausted and still trying to process everything that had happened with Sam.
“Well, yes. Evan had something to do with it.”
“What happened?”
I smiled a little. “I thought you didn’t care about my ex.”
“I don’t.”
“Yet here you are asking questions.”
“I asked why you moved back.”
“Same thing.”
“No, it ain’t.”
I shook my head. “You really do have an answer for everything.”
“Most things.”
I took a sip of my lemonade before deciding how much I wanted to tell him. The strange thing was, I didn’t feelembarrassed about what Evan had done anymore. Hurt, yes. Angry whenever I thought about it too long, definitely. But embarrassed? No. I hadn’t been the one lying.
“We were together for ten years,” I said. “I thought we were going to get married, but apparently, he was going to get married. Just not to me.”
He looked genuinely confused. or just surprised. “What?”
I laughed, but there wasn’t anything funny about the memory. “I found out two days before his wedding.”
“To somebody else?”