Page 319 of Hidden Depths
But it did.
For a while, we watched the dark water.
No fishing boats.
No motorcycles.
No gunfire.
Just the quiet marina.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Ward stared into his coffee.
“For what?”
“Tonya.”
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw the pain.
“You heard the call.”
“Some of it.”
“How much?”
“Enough to know she ended the engagement.”
He gave a quiet nod.
I waited for him to speak.
He didn’t.
So I gave him silence.
Grandpa had taught me that silence wasn’t empty.
Sometimes it was the only safe place for grief to land.
Finally, Ward leaned against the railing.
“She said she’d spent the last few weeks planning a wedding she didn’t want.”
“That must have hurt.”
“It did.”
His honesty surprised me.
Maybe because Ward always looked as if nothing could reach him.
Bullets.
