Tomorrow, 6:00 p.m. Harbor Street. Come alone. Then I put my phone away. He showed up.
At 6:15, Ryan walked into the small restaurant and stopped when he saw me sitting near the back. He looked nervous. Good. I pointed at the chair. Sit.
He sat down. For a few seconds, neither of us spoke. Then he said, "I never meant to hurt you." I stared at him. That's your opening? "I'm sorry." You knew I was marrying her.
Yes. And you still went to her bachelorette party. "I didn't plan on going." She invited you? He nodded. Why?
"She said she wanted to see me." I felt my jaw tighten. Why would she want to see you? Ryan looked down. "Because we had history." How much? He hesitated.
"Almost a year." I already knew that part. What I didn't know was whether you slept together at the party. Ryan rubbed his hands together. "Yes." I sat completely still. He continued quickly.
"It happened once." Where? "Upstairs." While her friends were downstairs? "Yes." And then she went back to the party? "Yes." I looked at him. How long had this been going on?
"Before she met you." That answer caught me off guard. Before me? "Yes." Then why did it continue after she met me? He didn't answer. I leaned forward.
Ryan. "Because she kept contacting me." I sat back. That was the part Christine had never mentioned. Ryan reached into his jacket and pulled out his phone. "I have messages." He unlocked it and placed it on the table.
There were months of conversations. Christine telling him she missed him. Christine asking if he would be at certain places. Christine telling him she was getting married but didn't want him completely out of her life. Then I saw a message from the night before our wedding.
"I wish things were different." Ryan had replied. "They don't have to be." I stared at the screen. Then I asked the question that had been bothering me. Did Christine ever tell you she was going to marry me? "Yes." Did she tell you she loved me?
Ryan looked uncomfortable. "Yes." I nodded slowly. So, she told both of us what we wanted to hear. Joshua, I know I handled it badly. You didn't handle anything.
You slept with another man's fiance. He looked down. I know. I stood up. There's one more person I need to talk to.
Ryan looked at me. Who? Melissa. His face changed. That told me enough.
I found Melissa the following evening. She agreed to meet me because she apparently believed I only wanted answers about the party. She was wrong. I placed a printed photograph on the table. How long did you know?
She stared at it. I don't understand. You knew Christine and Ryan had history. Her eyes moved away. She told me some things.
You knew they went upstairs at the party. Melissa said nothing. You laughed when they left. She swallowed. Christine asked me not to tell you.