The Request by David Bell

Author:David Bell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-06-29T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

I’d kept the engine running, but the air in the cabin started to feel close and stifling.

I reached with my left hand and pressed a button, lowering the window next to me a few inches, letting in cooling fresh air. Traffic sounds came in, the whooshing of cars, the honking of horns.

“Why did he tell you about that?” I asked.

Sam leaned a little closer. Her hair fell forward across her face again, and she brushed it back. “When we got back together this last time, we wanted to know everything about each other, Ryan. We wanted to have all of that in the open. He told me Amanda doesn’t know the truth about the accident. And I get it. Look at the lampshade thing. Amanda can be unforgiving. Maybe it’s best if she doesn’t know. I can’t say. With what happened to her sister . . .”

I shifted my weight, letting my body fall back against the seat. I sank against the cloth material, felt the light breeze against my face. And it brought a small amount of relief.

“Do you think differently about me, knowing that?” I asked. “Knowing the role I played in the accident? Don’t you look at me in a different way?”

She sounded believable when she said, “We all make mistakes, Ryan. None of us are perfect. You and Blake were there. You were driving, sure. But I love you both. Isn’t it time to move on from that? To not have that grip you so tightly? We all do what we do in the moment, and then we have to live with it. Right?”

She sounded so wise. She made it so simple and clear. But I couldn’t buy it all. Not yet.

“I don’t know,” I said. “It runs counter to who I believe I am.”

“You can think about it,” she said. “You were young and immature. Young men do stupid things all the time. I believe Amanda would understand. It happened in college. Before you even met her. Before you knew about her sister.”

Sam could say all she wanted about how knowing wouldn’t affect Amanda’s view of me, and I worked to get my mind to believe and accept that. Amanda and I loved each other. We knew each other’s strengths and flaws. Very well. We were committed. Wouldn’t she understand anything I could tell her about myself? Especially something that happened when I was twenty-two?

Wouldn’t I understand if I learned she’d done something horrible? Wouldn’t I try?

Then my mind bounced back to something else. Something Rountree had told me back at Blake and Samantha’s house.

“What prompted him to tell you all of this about college?” I asked. “When did he do that?”

“It was just a few weeks ago. Why?”

“He just unburdened himself of this out of the blue? You said you share everything, but you’ve known each other for a while. Why did this just come up recently? That seems random.”

“Well, that article ran in the paper. The Good Samaritan one.” Sam rubbed the back of her hand against her cheek while she thought.

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