“Logan,” she said. “I know it may have not seemed like anything to you, but what you and Piper had meant everything to her. You broke her heart.”
I felt weak as I let Audra’s words wash over me. What did she mean by that? Didn’t she know that it meant just as much to me? Didn’t Piper know that?
Without a word, I left the pub and hurried across the parking lot to my car. I climbed inside and took a few deep, steadying breaths. Dammit. That was not how I pictured my reunion with Piper.
If I was being honest, I imagined we would pick things up exactly where we left them five years ago. When we broke up, it wasn’t because I wanted to leave her, but I had to. I couldn’t pass up my chance to be a SEAL. Piper of all people understood that. The night I told her, was a hard one, but I thought she knew what she meant to me.
Audra’s words made everything suddenly seem less clear. In my mind, Piper and I parted equally broken-hearted. We were both wrecked. We were both miserable. But, we were both setting out to fulfill our dreams. I always thought, once those dreams came true, that we would…
I shook my head and my eyes flew open. There was no use fantasizing about a future that was never going to happen. If what Audra said was true, then I couldn’t blame Piper for running out of the pub.
As I sat in my car everything began to click into place. All the letters I wrote to Piper and she never once wrote back. In the beginning, when I still tried to call, she never picked up the phone. Back then, I thought she was just taking some time. I thought she just needed a little space to heal and figure everything out herself. I wanted to give her that, so after a while, I stopped calling.
I kept writing. For years, I wrote her letters and sent them to the only address I had for her: her parents’ house.
Eventually, I gave that up too, but I still never let myself believe things were over. Surely, Piper would want to see me if and when our paths were to cross again. After everything we had, there was no way she would be able to deny our connection. I held out hope. I believed we would find each other.
Now that we had, I realized none of that was fucking true. I wondered if I held onto the thought of Piper to escape the reality of my life. Was our connection truly as strong as I believed it to be? Or, was I romanticizing something that had long been over?
Nine
Piper
Sitting on that curb, I felt ridiculous. How could I have let Logan run me out of my own uncle’s wake? He hadn’t even spoken to me. He didn’t say a word. And still, I bolted. I ran out the back door like a burglar and didn’t stop until I knew I was alone. When did I become this person? So, afraid of confrontation?
That night came back to me in a flood of emotions. I was sitting on a bench in McKinney park waiting for Logan to show up. We’d agreed to meet after my last class. We had plans to see a movie and grab a drink, but he was late.
I called him a few times. No answer. After an hour, I decided to just go home and wait for him to call me back. Something must have happened. I was beginning to worry he’d been in an accident or something.
When I walked through the backdoor, my phone finally rang.
“Hey,” I said, my voice full of relief. “Where have you been? Are you okay?”
“I’m great!” Logan said cheerfully. “I’m really sorry I stood you up. Can you meet me now? At Kellan’s?”
“Sure,” I said apprehensively. “I’ll be there in a few.”
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“See you soon!”
I hung up and turned back around. Climbing in my car, I felt a horrible sense of dread wash over me. There was something going on with Logan, that much I knew, but I couldn’t imagine what it could be. In all the time we’d been dating, Logan had never been so much as two minutes late for a date. Never. He blamed the fact that he was obnoxiously early on his military training. Whatever was going on, it had to be pretty big if it meant Logan was deviating from his prompt nature.
As I drove toward Kellan’s, I told myself it couldn’t be anything bad. Logan sounded happy on the phone. Excited. Only something really amazing could make him sound like that.
Logan was sitting at our usual booth when I walked inside. My drink was already sitting on the table when I slid in beside him.
“Hey, you,” he said with a grin. He kissed me quickly, that same grin never leaving his face.
“What’s up with you?” I laughed. “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen you this happy.”
“I don’t know that I’ve ever been this happy,” Logan admitted.
“Well,” I prompted quickly. “Tell me what’s going on. I can’t take the suspense any longer.”
“I’m going to be a SEAL.”
The words left his lips and hit my ears like a brick. I heard him, but I couldn’t quite comprehend what he was saying.