“No. Why would I chase someone who didn’t want me?”
He put the photograph aside.
I didn’t ask anything else.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about the woman in that picture.
A few days later, I mentioned Elaine to my mother.
Her reaction startled me.
“Elaine Mitchell? I knew her years ago. We worked at the same office for a while.”
“You knew Ryan’s aunt?”
My mother nodded slowly.
“She used to talk about that little boy constantly. She adored him.”
I told her what Ryan had said.
Mom frowned.
“That doesn’t sound right.”
She searched through an old address book and contacted a former colleague.
Two days later, she gave me a telephone number.
I called Elaine that evening.
She answered after the fourth ring.
“Hello?”
“Is this Elaine Mitchell?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Chloe Bennett. I’m Ryan’s fiancée.”
Silence.
Then I heard a small, broken sound.
“Ryan is getting married?”
