I hadn’t just lost a friend or a wife. I’d lost Inez’s love. Something I didn’t know that I’d had. I closed my eyes, wishing I could scrape that truth from my mind, because it was tearing me apart. I opened my eyes slowly, in time to see a small smile on her perfect mouth. Small, but brave and edged in sadness. I’d done that to her. “I understand,” I whispered.
