“And after that, Céline Dion’s version?”
“No, Pinmonkey is next.” She shook her head, making that ponytail bounce. “They have to be in chronological order.”
“Ah, I missed that bit.”
“Then Céline Dion, then the Maccabees, then the Protomen, and then Carly Smithson.” She gave him a triumphant look. “Before this, I listened to Ray Dylan’s version and John Waite’s version.”
“All of them singing I drove all night to get to you?”
Haley nodded. “Of course.”
“Why?”
“Because it is The. Very. Best. Song. Ever.”
He leaned against the counter beside her, intrigued. “You seem to be uncertain about that.”
She laughed and picked up the knife again, resuming her chopping. She was blushing, just a little.
Maybe he should say thanks before dinner.
“Why is it the best song?” he asked. By her own admission, she wasn’t a romantic. Was she a relentless optimist? She seemed to have no doubt of her abilities to fix things.
Even him.
“Why?” she echoed, as if the very question was ridiculous. “Come on! It’s about wanting someone so much that you have to get to their side. A.S.A.P. No matter the cost.”
“Even if you have to drive all night.”
“Yes.” Haley nodded. “It’s about passion and great sex and obsession and it’s just perfect.”
“Isn’t it about true love?”
She bit her lip, considering it. “I guess it could be.” Her gaze flicked to him. “I think it’s more about that moment in every relationship when the other person is the only thing you can think about, the bit where everything seems perfect and full of promise.”
“The part that doesn’t last.”
She nodded easy agreement. “It can’t last. Nothing that good can stay that good. Maybe the moment is sweeter because it doesn’t.”
“Maybe.” Damon spoke his thoughts aloud. “My mom would have said true love does last.”
Haley nodded. “So would mine.” She shook her head. “I think that’s a fantasy for most people.”
“And our moms?”
“They want to believe it. Maybe they ignored the truth because they didn’t want to see it.” She winced. “Maybe it’s easier to believe the fantasy after you’re widowed.”
There was that.
“Don’t talk about mermaids again.”
Haley smiled. “It’s kind of the same. I can like this song without believing that true love lasts forever.”
Damon was skeptical. “Tell me about Garrett,” he invited, not really expecting her to do so.
Her sidelong glance was wary. “Why?”
“I’m curious.”
“I’m curious about lots of things about you, but you usually say it’s not my concern.”
Damon smiled. “Guilty as charged. Do you still love him?”
“Yes.” Haley exhaled. “I probably always will.”
Damon’s heart squeezed tightly. “Why?”
“Because he was perfect.”
“Nobody’s perfect.”
“No, but he was perfect for me. We were so good together. It seemed inevitable.”
“Even though you weren’t going to be vulnerable like your mom?”
“He made me forget all of that. He wasn’t a first responder. I figured I was safe, because he didn’t have a dangerous job.” She fell silent again.
“But?”
Haley bit her lip and started to dice again. This time, it was green onions. She didn’t answer his question.
“Where did you meet him?” he asked.
“High school. After we moved from here, I met him my first day at that school. He was nice to me—and he was gorgeous. Captain of the soccer team. Head of the chess club. Handsome. Athletic. The fantasy of every girl in town, yet he talked to me.”
Damon found himself experiencing a major case of jealousy. “So, he had good taste.”
Haley smiled. “I don’t know. I thought it was kismet at the time. He was two years ahead of me. I was overwhelmed by his interest and just how amazing he was. I fell in love, hard, and it seemed like the feeling was mutual.”
Once again, Damon had to prompt her to continue. “And? When high school ended?”
“Oh, we went to the same college.” She cast him a glance. “Not an accident. He was going to be a doctor, and I enrolled at the same college in the nursing program. He was so excited that we’d be able to see each other during the year. He drove me there and moved me into my dorm room. We saw each other every day, and spent a lot of nights together.” She sighed with a yearning that made Damon want to hurt this Garrett guy.
“But something went wrong.”
“Not soon. I graduated and went to work in the hospital in the town where we’d gone to high school. His dad was a family doctor and he was going to take over the practice, so we had this plan of going back there to build our future. He had to go to Chicago to do his residency, so I was working and saving my money for a house, talking to him on the phone and waiting for him to come and visit. We’d decided that the wedding would be when he came back to town and started to practice.”
She fell silent again, so Damon guessed. “He didn’t come back?”
“Oh, he came back in the spring, right on schedule.” Haley met Damon’s steady gaze. “He brought his wife.”
“His wife?”
“Seems they were both doing their residencies and fell head over heels. Just one look was all it took, from what I understand. They couldn’t wait so went to city hall in Chicago to tie the knot.”
Damon was stunned. “He didn’t even call to tell you?”
Haley shook her head. “It was a good thing I hadn’t gone ahead with the wedding plans. I had a bad feeling when he stopped calling after Christmas. I knew something was wrong because he never wanted to talk, but I thought he was just worried about his residency. I thought we could work out the details later, have a more casual ceremony or a later one.”
“Maybe gone to city hall.”
“I did think of that.” Haley frowned and squared her shoulders. “They were the perfect couple. Everybody said so. They looked great together and their marriage was obviously destined to be. They were two of a kind: both finishing med school, both the oldest children of doctors, both aiming for success. He said he hadn’t told me about her because he didn’t want to hurt my feelings.”
Damon couldn’t help but scoff. “You seeing him married wasn’t going to do that?”
Haley smiled. “He was just avoiding the unpleasant job, I imagine.”
“Or he wasn’t very smart.”
“Garrett is brilliant,” she enthused and Damon felt a fierce stab of jealousy.
“You must have been really upset.”
“I was devastated. That was when I realized I’d made my mother’s mistake without meaning to. Loving a man more than anything else makes you vulnerable. Something can happen out of the blue on a random Tuesday morning and the meaning can be stolen from your life. I thought because Garrett was going to be a GP that I’d be safe, but that didn’t matter in the end. Any guy can fall in love with someone else and dump you, then walk away without looking back.”