Page 64 of Perfect Together

She leaned closer so she could absorb not just the story but his emotions about his past as well. “Were Brett and Sara boyfriend and girlfriend too?”

He shook his head. “Just friends. But after—after Jenna left me for Brett and they moved out of town, it was just me and Sara. Not in a romantic way or even a sexual one. We were really good friends.”

She nodded.

And he continued. “Long story short, I went to the academy in Albany and I met this guy, Frank Dalton. He and I became close. He seemed decent. I met his parents. I figured I knew him pretty well. I trusted my instincts and introduced him to Sara.” He drew another deep breath, his body trembling.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to relive it.” Nicole saw how difficult it was for him to talk about his past. It was enough that he was willing.

“You need to know,” he said, his voice strong.

“Okay.” She was grateful. “Okay.”

“Frank and Sara hit it off right away. They dated and next thing I knew they got engaged. He wanted to be a city cop and she was ready to leave Serendipity, so they moved to Albany.”

Nicole had seen the connection between them. “I bet you missed her.”

“A lot. Mostly because we lost touch.” His facial features grew taut.

Nicole glanced at his tense expression. “Why? That doesn’t seem like the Sara I met. Even two seconds in her presence and I could tell when she loves, she loves big.”

“Yeah. And she was there for me after Jenna left, so I couldn’t figure out why she would pull back and disappear from my life. Then one day, she called me. She was hysterical. She said she needed me so I got in the car and drove to Albany.”

“What was wrong?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Frank had been in a car accident. Drunk driving and he was in a coma.”

“Oh no!” Nicole reached for him, but he shook his head.

“There’s more.”

She could barely breathe, waiting to hear the end of the story. “When I saw Sara again, everything she didn’t want me to know came pouring out. From the day they married, Frank had been a controlling son of a bitch and when he drank, which was often, he was verbally abusive. He didn’t like how close we were and he cut her off from me, from anyone who could see what their life together was really like. I never saw that side of him or I wouldn’t have introduced them.”

“Of course not!”

“But I did. Because my personal judgment sucks, something I’ve proven twice over. And you know what they say about the third time.”

“Third time’s a charm?” she asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“More like three strikes and you’re out,” he muttered.

Nicole knew better than to argue with a thinking pattern he’d had too long to believe in and let stick. “Did Sara blame you?” she asked instead.

Sam shook his head. “No. But she should. The night she told him she was pregnant, he was furious. They hadn’t planned for a kid. He wasn’t ready and—he hit her before taking off in their car. She packed, planning to leave, but she got a call that he’d been in an accident. And you know the rest.”

“What happened to her husband?” Nicole asked.

Sam glanced up at the clear blue sky. “He died of his injuries.”

“And she was free of him.”

He nodded.

“But you weren’t. Because you still blame yourself.”

He inclined his head.

It wasn’t hard to understand his thoughts. A man who was raised in a family of cops, who protected others, had felt like he’d failed himself and his best friend.