Page 80 of A Trial of the Heart

“Yeah,” I responded.

“Only thing on your mind?”

“Remember that case?”

This time, it was his turn to chuckle. “Not something that is easily forgotten. What about it? Still causing you trouble, even after the dismissal?”

“Yes and no.”

“Gonna elaborate, or you just gonna have me fishing for stuff all evening?”

“Long story short, it’s Shiloh.”

He nodded in understanding. “She the one set you up?”

“Nah.”

“So why the mention of it?”

“She may not have set me up, but she found out I was innocent and didn’t even try to clear my name. So, it makes me believe that she would have allowed me to go to prison without fighting for me.”

“You sure about that?”

My pops question caused me to stop and think. I shrugged.

“Why else would she not speak up?”

“Just because it wasn’t on your time doesn’t mean she wouldn’t.”

For as long as I could remember, my father was so calm and such an optimist that at times it irritated me. He was always the thinker that had to see the bigger picture before passing judgement.

“Maybe so, but it was a gamble with my future, and I wasn’t willing to take the chance.”

“So, you jumped the gun and didn’t allow her to show you her loyal side. She’s now pregnant, and let me guess, y’all no longer together?”

“Nah. We not together.” I chose to only respond to the last part.

“Hmm…” he muttered lowly.

I knew he was judging how I handled it, and as I sat here, maybe I had acted prematurely.

“She told me she loved me…” I revealed after a bout of silence.

His eyes shifted to me again. “You tell her back?”

“I didn’t.”

“Hmm.”

“Pops, say what you want to say.”

He chuckled. “Do you love her?”

Since hearing Shiloh say it, I asked myself a million times did I feel the same way as she did.

“I do,” I finally admitted for the first time out loud. On the occasions I asked myself did I, I avoided the thought of my answer, forcing myself to do something else so I didn’t have to face the truth.

“You gotta tell her that.”