Page 6 of Stone Heart

“Like I said, it was a long time ago.” Danny grabbed a handful of peanuts from the dish on the coffee table and stuffed them into his mouth, giving himself a few moments to collect his thoughts.

Lauren had been a huge part of his life, a part that had ended painfully. The last thing he needed to do was open old wounds—especially ones that would pressure his already strained marriage. Even when he and Heather were dating, Lauren’s ghost had weighed on their relationship. Heather hated being reminded that his ex was famous.

To his displeasure, the room erupted into a roundtable of editorial comments about Lauren and their relationship. They ranged from Cole’s insistence it was the coolest thing ever to his mother’s sharp retort that Lauren was a hussy and never good enough for Danny. Another sub-current in the conversation was whether Cole should even write the paper, a suggestion she rejected out of hand.

Finally, Danny had had enough. “Can we just drop it, please? Cole, I’ll think about it.”

Cole started to plead her case, but a sharp look from her mother ended that. The room settled and Danny thought he was in the clear, but then his thirteen-year-old looked up, his expression serious and thoughtful. “Dad? If she was your girlfriend, did you love her?”

“Girls have cooties!” Matty said.

“Nuh-uh. Mom doesn’t have cooties and she’s a girl!” Tommy folded his arms and nodded his head firmly, secure in his assessment of the cootie situation.

“Did you, Dad?” Lucas repeated the question, despite Danny’s hopes that the cooties conversation would distract him.

Pressing his lips together, Danny resisted the urge to say it was none of anyone’s business, but he felt every eye in the room settle on him. “Back then, yes, I did.”

“Do you still?”

The question pierced Danny like a lance. “Now? Not the way I love your mom. But I hope Lauren’s happy and found someone who loves her.”

Lucas nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. “Cool.”

Danny scooped up another handful of peanuts and stared towards the television but didn’t see what was on the screen. He’d teetered on the edge of lying to his son—to his entire family. He thought about Lauren a lot. Every time he heard The Kingmakers on the radio, it brought up memories of when they were together. Memories of how things ended and unanswered questions about what might have been.

Did he love her still? An hour ago, he would have said no. But it became excruciatingly clear to him in that moment just how strong his feelings still were for Lauren Stone.

For the entire drive home, Danny waited for the other shoe to drop. Heather talked to the boys but didn’t say a word to him. Once they were back at their house, his wife bustled around cleaning and getting things ready for the start of the school week. Danny eventually retreated to the living room to watch the Mets’ spring training highlights. Lucas, who loved baseball, joined him.

But once the boys all went to bed, the chilly silence became oppressive. Danny finished his beer and walked into the kitchen. Heather was scrubbing a stain on the stovetop as if her life depended on it. Danny rinsed out the bottle and left it on the counter.

“What’s eating you?”

“Nothing.”

Danny knew very well it wassomething. And he was pretty sure he knew what. “Doesn’t seem like nothing.”

She dropped her scrubby sponge on the counter and turned, one hand planted on her hip. “You looked pretty cozy in your prom picture with your famous ex.”

“Jesus, Heather. It was a high school prom. You can’t be serious.” He threw his arms out to the side, and her scowl deepened in response.

“You never talk about her.”

“Why would I talk about her?” he said. “Yes, my ex-girlfriend from high school is a singer in a rock band. So what? Maybe I don’t like dredging up a painful part of my past. Maybe I don’t think it’s cool to talk about my ex to mywife. Can we drop it?” Danny leaned his hands on the back of a chair, aware he was trying to crush the wood. Lauren had always been a sore spot for Heather.

“I just never liked that you hid her from me.” Heather picked up a stray dishtowel and gave it a quick fold before jamming it over the oven door handle.

“I never ‘hid’ her from you, and you know it.”

“I had to find out about her from one of your friends.” Heather’s retort was fast and biting.

Danny vividly remembered the night he’d brought Heather to his fifth-year high school reunion to meet his friends. One had immediately asked if Lauren was coming to the reunion, and another wanted to know what Danny thought of her new song. After that, the cat was out of the bag.

He snapped back at his wife. “Did I ever—haveI ever—asked you about your exes? No. Because I don’t care about them—they’re in the past, just like Lauren. And if you’d actually asked me, I would have told you.”

Heather’s cheeks flushed dull red. “You slept with her.”

“Why does that matter?” Danny stared at his wife. Heather had always had a bit of a jealous streak, but he never understood why she felt so compelled to compare herself to Lauren. Was whether or not he’d slept with a girl almost two decades ago really that important?