Whisper

59

We both lit cigarettes.

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Eva took a deep breath.

"We gave it a try, but it didn't last too long."

.

"I'm sorry. The last I heard was that you guys moved out west."

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Evangeline nodded, blowing out smoke rings.

"We did. We thought a new start would help us get over what broke us up in the first place."

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"I'm sorry."

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She laughed.

"Don't be. I should have known better. I guess I was just looking for the things that we had in the beginning, but there is an old saying."

She drew heavily on the cigarette.

"You can't go back."

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I was silent.

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Evangeline looked at me, smiling.

"You're not even going to ask?"

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"Not my business."

.

Evangeline laughed.

"Well, now I have to tell you."

She took another puff.

"We got married way to young, anyway. We were highschool sweethearts. He was really the only man I had ever been with.

Everything seemed to be perfect, but things turned sour. He wanted children..."

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"And you didn't?" I interjected.

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Eva shook her head. "Quite the opposite. I wanted to, but I couldn't. We tried for two years, but I couldn't conceive."

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"And he felt deprived?"

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She gave me a strange look. "That is exactly what he said to me."

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I felt bad. "I'm sorry."

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"Don't be. It opened my eyes to a whole side of him that I never knew. I suggested adoption, but he said he would never raise someone's bastard child."

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"That's a little harsh," I said, quickly.

"Many couples adopt."

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She blew smoke rings out and looked at me. "That was the beginning of the end. He changed and I couldn't take it anymore, so I moved out and he filed for divorce."

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"So what happened, when you went to St. John's?"

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She took a deep breath.

"When I saw him, all the old feelings came back. We talked in the hallway, while waiting for our case to be heard and by the time we got called, we had decided to give it another try."

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"But?"

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She shook her head while drinking her beer. "You know what the but is, Will.