Chapter 42

42

MERRITT

T he graveyard was quiet, the kind of quiet that sank into your skin and stayed there. I held my coat tightly around me, more for the comfort than the cold. This was not how I imagined my night going. Hell, nothing about this felt predictable. When they said it was a small world, they weren’t kidding.

Kleo sat beside me on the stone bench that someone had so thoughtfully put in the graveyard. It was a place for reflection. I stared out at the shadowy stones stretched out before us, dotted with flowers and velvet hearts—an odd juxtaposition of life’s fragile beauty against its inevitability. Valentine’s Day was coming, and even here, love made its mark. It was sad to think of people mourning their Valentines. I never would have thought to bring Valentine’s candy and flowers to a cemetery, but I got it. If Kannon was in this place, I could see myself celebrating the day of love with some flowers.

“Kannon, huh?” Kleo asked.

We had both moved to the bench without really saying much. It felt like we were both in shock.

“Yep.” I nodded.

“And that was your dad you were visiting? Gary Jacobs.”

I nodded, my gaze fixed on a small plaque adorned with fresh roses. It wasn’t my dad’s, but it was close enough to his to catch my eye.

“So you’re her,” Kleo said with a long sigh. “You’re Merritt.”

I licked my lips, hesitating before responding. “I am. You sound like you know me.”

Kleo leaned back, her expression unreadable. “You’re practically famous. I know of you.”

“Famous?” I turned to her with confusion.

She gave me a wry smile. “Among Leah’s friends, at least. We all knew who you were. The girl Kannon never got over. The one who lived rent-free in Leah’s head.”

Her words hit me like a slap I wasn’t prepared for. I blinked, trying to process. “I didn’t even know he was married. We hadn’t spoken in ten years. I never meant to cause Leah any distress. I truly had no idea he felt like that about me. We were friends.”

“I know,” Kleo admitted softly. “And Leah… well, she knew it too. She probably always knew, deep down, that she and Kannon weren’t meant to be.”

I frowned, my chest tightening. “Then why?—”

“She was head over heels,” Kleo interrupted, shrugging. “And when Leah wanted something, she took it. Even if it wasn’t hers to have. She thought she could convince him she was the one for him. She used to call us and celebrate what she thought was a big win in their relationship. She competed with you in every way, which is crazy, because she didn’t even know you. You were the person she wanted to overthrow. If she could make you disappear, she would have done it in a heartbeat. Sorry but it’s true.”

That stung. I wanted to argue, but the way Kleo’s voice softened told me she wasn’t just throwing blame. She didn’t seem like she hated me, but I would understand why she would. I was the person that made her friend sad and miserable. I was the person that stood in the way of her friend getting the man she loved.

“I tried to stop her,” she continued. “Told her it wasn’t right. That if a man still carried someone else in his heart, she’d never be able to fill that space. But Leah was stubborn, and I didn’t push hard enough. Maybe I didn’t want to. She was my best friend, Merritt. I wanted her to be happy. I so wanted her to get what she wanted. Leah was amazing. I started to believe she might actually be able to get Kannon to forget about you. Their relationship was fast and furious in the beginning. I thought with time, he would grow to love her. That’s what she was holding on to.”

“I believe he did love her,” I said. “He told me about her and how much fun they had together. He was immediately attracted to her strong personality.”

Kleo looked at me and smiled. “I get it.”

“What?”

“You’re talking about Leah like she was a friend,” she said. “You’re respectful of her memory. You understand why Kannon married her. You’re not competing with her. That’s the difference between you and Leah. She wanted to erase you and you’re accepting she had a piece of him.”

“Of course, she did,” I said.

Kleo nodded, her gaze drifting to the gravestones. “It’s strange, isn’t it? How people can have such a hold on us, even when they’re not around anymore.”

“It’s love, isn’t it? Messy and complicated.”

“Leah wasn’t perfect. She could be jealous and sometimes a little defiant, but I promise you, she loved Kannon. She wanted to make him happy.”

“I believe that,” I said. “I think Kannon carries a lot of guilt that he couldn’t be the man she deserved. For what it’s worth, he truly did care about her. When he told me about her, he only said nice things. He told me about her love of kids. I know it’s hard to believe that, and as her friend, you’re rightly angry at him, but he truly did care about her.”

Her gaze fell to the ground. I thought I was picking up on an expression of guilt or maybe shame.

“I didn’t check on Kannon like I should’ve,” Kleo admitted. “I knew he was struggling just as much as I was after Leah. But I couldn’t cope. It hurt too much. I hated seeing the pain he’d caused her. I couldn’t look at him and see someone innocent. I was so pissed at him. I was angry that she was gone, and in a way, I blamed him. I know it wasn’t his fault. There was nothing he could have done, but in my grief, I needed to blame someone. He was the easy target.”

I swallowed hard, unsure how to respond.

“But he never meant to hurt her,” Kleo said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I know that now. I hope he knows I believe that. We all do. He cared about her. He would have died for her. She should have rejected his marriage proposal. But Leah, she was too deep in by then. Too committed to the battle she had created in her own head. One that kept escalating no matter what anyone said or did.”

I nodded, understanding more than I wanted to. “It’s a terrible thing, isn’t it? How love can sometimes push us to the brink of our own destruction?”

Kleo sighed and glanced up at the dark sky. “Yeah, the worst part is, everybody loses in such battles.”

“Communication. A little talking and things would have been so different for everyone.”

“Are you talking about you and Kannon or Leah and Kannon?”

“Both. If I would have told Kannon how I felt about him or he told me that he cared about me as more than a friend, things could have been different.”

“He never would have married Leah,” she said quietly.

“Yes. But now we’ll never know, will we?” I said the words heavier than I intended.

Kleo took a deep breath. “No, we won’t. And we have to live with that. But maybe that’s the nature of life—uncertain, unpredictable, and untamable. Leah used to say everything happened for a reason. She convinced herself you went to Florida because she was supposed to have Kannon. She was certain he was the guy for her.”

My heart squeezed at the thought. “I’m so sorry. I feel horrible for her. For you guys that knew she was in pain.”

“Honestly, I think she had accepted the fact he wasn’t her true love,” she said with a sigh. “Before she was killed, she did talk about other men, like she was opening herself to the possibility they both needed to move on. She knew she was never going to have his heart. Not all of it. But Leah was such a fighter. So competitive. She hated losing and she felt like she was losing to you. But if I’m being completely honest, I don’t think their marriage would have lasted another six months.”

We sat in silence for a few moments.

“Do you ever wonder if maybe Leah and Kannon were just misaligned stars? Like, destined to burn bright but not together?”

“Maybe they were. Just like some stories are destined to be tragedies to remind us of the fragility of happiness.”

“I think part of me always knew it wouldn’t work out between them. But I wanted it for her so badly. Leah deserved happiness.”

“She did,” I agreed. “We all do.”

“He just wasn’t it.”

I bristled at the way she said it. Her tone was almost accusing. “He’s a good man.”

Kleo tilted her head, studying me. “Then why are you so angry with him?”

Her question caught me off guard. My instinct was to snap back with a reason, but none came quickly. Before I could gather my thoughts, Kleo shook her head.

“Sorry. That’s none of my business.”

“It’s fine—” My phone buzzed loudly in my pocket, cutting me off. I pulled it out, seeing Riggs’s name on the screen. We had exchanged phone numbers before the Miami trip. “One second.” I pressed the phone to my ear. “Riggs?”

“Merritt. Thank God. There’s been an accident. Where are you?”

My heart dropped. “What? What kind of accident?”

“It’s Kannon,” he said. “I just got a call from the hospital. I’m his emergency contact but I think he would want you to be there.”

My blood ran cold. “What happened to him?”

“You need to get here, Merritt,” Riggs said, his voice breaking slightly.

I didn’t even think. “I’m on my way.” I shoved my phone back in my pocket, my hands trembling. “I have to go.”

“What’s going on?” Kleo asked, her eyes wide with concern.

“It’s Kannon. There’s been an accident.” The words barely escaped me.

Kleo stood immediately, her hand on my arm. “You shouldn’t drive. I’ll take you.”

I hesitated but only for a moment. Nodding, I followed her to her car, my mind racing. The drive to the hospital was a blur. My heart pounded in my chest, faster with every mile closer we got.

I didn’t know what I was walking into and the uncertainty was suffocating. This was exactly what I had been afraid of. Did I jinx him? Did he go out there and try to prove a point and end up proving me right? That was not how I wanted to win the argument. Hell, I didn’t want to win it at all.

Kleo pulled into the hospital parking lot, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. “Do you want me to come in with you?”

I didn’t answer, frozen in place until I saw Riggs step outside, scanning the lot. The sight of him jolted me into motion. “Thank you but I see his friend,” I told Kleo quickly before rushing out. Before I closed the car door, I turned back to her. “Leah was lucky to have you as a friend.”

Riggs spotted me and waved me over, his face pale. “Merritt.”

I reached him, my voice trembling. “What the hell happened?”

His jaw tightened. “He was on his bike. Got hit by a car head on.”

My knees gave out, and for a second, everything spun. Riggs caught me, his grip firm as he pulled me upright. “Stop that,” he said gruffly. “He’s alive. But you need to see him.”

Alive. The word barely registered as Riggs led me inside, down sterile hallways that felt far too bright and endless. When we reached the room, my heart stuttered. There he was, propped up in a bed, his face pale but unmistakably his. A nurse stood beside him, adjusting an IV.

“This will take care of the pain in no time,” the nurse said.

“Kannon,” I whispered, rushing to his side.

His eyes opened slowly, focusing on me. I threw my arms around him and he groaned in pain. I pulled back, cupping his face in my hands.

“You’re okay?” I asked, the desperation in my voice thick. “Please tell me you’re okay.”

He reached up, his hand weakly brushing against mine. “I’m sorry, Merritt.”

Tears spilled over as I leaned in closer. “What? Don’t apologize. Just tell me you’re okay.”

“I will be,” he murmured.