“Why don’t you tell me why you came here today?”
“If you know who I am, then you must know why I’m here.” Her posture stiffened as she said, “I wanted to talk to you about Dalton.”
“Okay.” Letting my therapist instincts kick in, I eased back in my seat and tried to appear relaxed. “Is there anything in particular you’d like to discuss in his regard?”
“I saw you with him a few weeks ago at the mall. I watched you together and saw the way he looked at you. It was kind of surreal.” Her expression grew tense. “The man I loved, the man I still love, is in love with you.”
Dalton and I had gotten close over the past few weeks, very close, and even though the words had lingered in the back of my mind, I’d never actually said “I love you” to him—nor him to me.
I almost felt robbed hearing that Dalton loved me coming from her, but that didn’t bother me nearly as much as hearing Sadie say she was still in love with him. I tried to keep my calm as I replied, “You’re in love with Dalton, but you’re engaged to another man and having his baby?”
“Colton is a good man. He loves me and is over the moon about us having this baby, but I’ve never loved him the way I do Dalton.” Tears filled her eyes as she ran her hand over her round belly. “I’d always thought he’d be the one I’d marry, that we’d have a family and spend our lives together, but everything just fell apart.”
“If you loved Dalton the way you say you do, then why would you get involved with Colton?”
“I was heartbroken when Dalton broke things off with me. I mean, I knew why he did it. He didn’t want me to have to wait for him. He wanted me to have a life of my own.” There was a cattiness to her tone when she added, “He loved me that much.”
“If you truly believe he loved you that much, why did you give up on him?”
“I didn’t give up. I tried to see him, but he refused to see me. I’d write him letters, but he’d send them back. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“So, you decided to move on.”
“Yes and no. I never really meant to get involved with Colton. It just kind of happened.” Tears pooled in her eyes as she explained, “I was heartbroken over losing Dalton and barely able to function. Then, Colton came along, and he was sweet to me. He took care of me and loved me. I needed that. I needed to feel loved.”
“That’s understandable, but you had to know that getting involved with Colton would mean letting go of Dalton.”
“Yes, and I tried to. I really did, and I was doing okay with it until he was released from prison. Something about knowing that Dalton was out there and within my reach made it hard to put him out of my head. Then, I saw him with you.” Sadie’s shattered tone turned angry as she snapped, “Why did you have to steal him from me? We could’ve been happy together if you hadn’t come along.”
“It might make you feel better to have someone to blame, but I’m not the reason you and Dalton aren’t together.”
“That’s not true. You manipulated him. Turned him against me.”
“He turned you away long before I came into the picture.”
“Yes, but he would’ve come back to me if you hadn’t come along.”
I was becoming more and more frustrated with the insanity of this conversation, but I maintained my cool as I told her, “Do you really believe that? And don’t just answer that for me. Answer it for yourself.”
“I believe that Dalton is supposed to be mine. That’s what I believe.”
“I know that’s what you want, but you have to remember that you both made choices, Sadie—some good and some bad. And now, you have to learn to deal with the consequences of those choices.” I could see the wheels spinning in her head, so I added, “Right now, you’re focusing on what could’ve been. It’s time to put the past behind you and move on. Dalton has.”
“But I can’t ... I won’t. I still love him, and I want the future we were supposed to have together.”
“And what about Colton? Don’t you love him?”
“I don’t know why I came here. I should’ve known you wouldn’t listen to me!” Sadie stood, and after studying me for a moment, she snarled, “Dalton is supposed to be with me!”
Without waiting for my response, she stormed out of my office and rushed down the hall. Once she was gone, I just sat there in a daze, trying to make sense of what had just happened. I’d really hoped that Sadie would listen to what I was saying and see that her time with Dalton was over. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. I feared that she would end up making things difficult for not only herself but for Dalton, too.