Page 77 of What He Doesn't Know

“He’s got the same name, sweetheart, but he’s not the same boy.”

My mouth popped open, heart picking up speed like it had before. “I can’t believe you would say that to me. Iknowhe’s not the same boy. But I care about him and I’m concerned and hurt. Why are you making it out like I’mcrazyfor feeling that way?”

“You’re not crazy,” he said, his voice softer. He pulled me into him again, soothing a hand over my back.

For a long while he just held me there, and the anger I’d felt started to fade. It was like when he had his arms around me like that, I could feel the part of him he never showed me, the part he never said out loud. I thought I felt his heart break under his chest just like mine had.

He let out a shaky breath, holding me tighter, and in that embrace I knew he had to feel it, too.

Cameron had always been quiet. He’d always been reserved. He showed me he loved me with his hands, with his eyes, more than he ever showed me with his words.

But I needed to hear them in that moment. I needed him to tell me what to do.

I needed him to understand.

“I’m sorry,” I said into his chest. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I just don’t know what to do.”

“I’m sorry, too.”

I waited, hoping he was searching for the right words to say. He held me tighter, lips pressed against my forehead, and then he pulled back to look into my eyes.

“Listen. Why don’t I run you a hot bath and bring you some wine. Take your time, just relax and try to process, okay? And when you get out, I know exactly how to fix this.”

“You do?”

He smiled, sweeping a fallen strand of hair behind my ear. “Let’s go get you another bird.”

I blinked.

In that moment, I swore I heard the façade we’d built for years crack in half.

“What?”

“I know you’ve been hurting since Edward passed, and with me forgetting our anniversary… I’m still trying to make up for that. So, after your bath, let’s go get Jane a friend.”

I stepped back from him, crossing my arms over my middle, eyes on the floor. “You’re kidding, right?”

Cameron didn’t answer me, and a powerful silence fell over the room, like a vacuum had stolen every other sound apart from our breathing.

I lifted my eyes to his, nose flaring. “Abird?You think going to get another bird is going to make everything better?”

“I… I just know you loved Edward, and Jane has been sad. I thought it would make you happy.”

“You thought it would make me happy,” I repeated, laughing at the ridiculousness of it.

And that was it.

The final thread of that string anchoring me to the ground snapped in two, and everything I’d tried to hold together on my own for years went up in flames with the last of it.

I stormed across the room, tugging hard on the window handle until it unlatched and swung open. Then, I grabbed the door of Jane’s cage, ripping it open just the same. For a moment she just stood there on her swing, her feathers fluttering out like she wanted to fly but then she thought better of it.

“You think she wants another bird?” I screamed, rage blending with my tears as I stared through them at Cameron. “ThatIwant another bird? That’s your solution to all this?” I put my hand in the cage, letting Jane hop onto my first finger, and then I held her outside the window.

In a flash, she was gone.

“Charlie!” Cameron rushed toward me, but it was too late. Jane was already halfway across our yard, and I was already completely unglued.

“This isn’t something abirdcan fix, Cameron. Or a garden, or a library, or whatever else you think you need to buy orbuildfor me. Is this really how little you know me? Is this really how far we’ve grown apart?”