Chapter 14 - THE LAST TIME I SAW CALLAHAN
Callahan requested one final meeting before the divorce was finalized.
I agreed.
Not because I owed him anything.
Because I wanted closure.
We met in a supervised legal conference room.
He looked older.
Tired.
His expensive suits were gone.
His confidence too.
“Eloise.”
I sat opposite him.
“Callahan.”
He swallowed.
“I never thought things would go this far.”
I stared.
“You asked me to confess to killing a man.”
He looked down.
“I know.”
“You asked me to surrender my father's house.”
His eyes filled.
“I know.”
I leaned forward.
“Then what exactly did you think would happen?”
Silence.
Callahan began crying.
“I was afraid.”
I nodded.
“So was I.”
He looked up.
I continued.
“But I didn't ask someone else to go to prison for me.”
His face crumpled.
For a moment, I saw the man I had once loved.
The man who kissed my forehead when I gave him cuff links.
The man who promised to protect me.
Then I remembered the confession.
The deed.
The jail cell.
I stood.
“Goodbye, Callahan.”
He reached toward me.
“Eloise.”
I stopped.
He whispered:
“Did you ever love me?”
I looked at him.
Then answered:
“Yes.”
His eyes filled.
I continued.
May you like
“That's what made what you did so terrible.”
Then I walked away.
