Page 78 of Her Brother's Billionaire Best Friend

“Look,” I shifted in my seat a little. “Whatever you’re thinking, I want to hear it.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just…first the festival, and now…”

“Now here,” I assured her.

“I’m sorry, Lucien. It’s just, wherever I turn, it’s like there’s a memory of a person there. And sometimes that memory is so strong it’s like he’s in the room.”

“Right,” I said, trying to think of how I could shift the conversation away. I didn’t want Laura to think too intensely about Conor. Otherwise she might realize the similarities between our face, and put together all the tiny slip-ups I’d begun to make since I’d started seeing her. But I had to find out what she knew.

“Who was this guy to you? I’m guessing a boyfriend.”

Laura sighed. “More than a boyfriend. He was…well, he was nothing special. Just a guy from here. Who I used to know.”

I resisted the urge to clench my fists. I’d always known I was nothing special to Laura. “And?” I said, trying to stop myself from tensing up.

“And I did something awful to him,” Laura said. “And now I don’t know where he is. No one knows where he is.”

“You said he was in the Navy,” I went on. “Do you know what unit? What rank?”

Laura shook her head. “Someone said he might have gone abroad and…” she shook her head. “But I don’t believe it. I know Conor would have come back. This place was important to him. He hated it here, but it meant something to him.”

“Do you feel bad about what you did to him?” It was the question I’d wanted to ask since I met Laura Solomon, ever since I’d gotten involved in this crazy situation with her.

Laura shook her head. “I had my reasons. And in hindsight, we were fine. Until I came back. Until all this.”

We sat in silence for a while. I think Laura was expecting me to comfort her because she looked up into my face. “Lucien?”

But I was silent.

I couldn’t say anything. I was outraged, annoyed, betrayed. The old feelings I’d had when I’d first seen Laura were back. I felt revulsion and fear, but more than that, I felt the sting of the old betrayal, as sharp as it had been on the day when I went down to the church to find that Laura had left me.

“I have to go,” I stood up.

“Lucien?”

But I kept walking.

I passed the waitress, and reached into my wallet for some money. I threw a bill into the tip jar, and saw it, the zeroes on the 100-dollar sign watching me like a pair of empty eyes. I stepped quickly out of the bar and into a light rainfall which heralded the arrival of Fall. I was almost at the car when I heard Laura behind me.

“Lucien!”

I turned around. “What?”

“Where are you going?” said Laura, panting. “I wouldn’t have told you about any of this if I’d thought it would upset you.”

“It’s hard to hear. After all, I…I thought you were happy with things the way they are.”

“I am happy. Much happier. But still, I can’t escape this feeling that…”

“Laura,” I said, and she turned towards me. “You have to accept that this guy—whoever he is—is gone. And if you hurt him,” I continued, my voice growing thick with the tension, “he probably doesn’t want to see you.”

Laura sighed, and looked hurt. “How could you say that?”

“Laura. Believe me. I also lost someone. A long time ago. And it broke my heart—it was the worst thing in the world. But now I have something in my life I really care about. And I wouldn’t—wouldn’t want to compromise that by worrying about the past. Okay?”

I looked into Laura’s eyes, hoping she wouldn’t hear the desperation in my words. “Okay…”

“Look, I have to go to Freetown tonight,” I said.