“Dan?” I joked weakly. “You look like you’re about to face a firing squad. Wedding night nerves?”
He did not laugh. He didn’t even turn around at first.
When he finally faced me, his expression made my stomach clench. Guilt. Fear. Something like dread.
“There’s something I have to show you,” he said quietly. “Something in this safe that you need to read before we begin this life together.”
The Old Phone And The Promise He Forgot
He opened the safe with shaking hands and took out a worn white envelope. Inside was an old phone with a cracked screen.
“My daughter found this a few weeks ago,” he said. “It’s one of my old phones. I charged it, and there was a message thread I’d completely forgotten about.”
He tapped the screen and scrolled, then handed it to me.
It was a text conversation between him and Peter. From seven years ago. Before the accident.
At first, it was the usual: sports, weekend plans, jokes. Then the tone shifted.
Dan had been venting about his failing marriage at the time. I could see his words on the screen.
Then Peter’s reply, firm and clear:
Don’t. Seriously. Don’t go there.
Promise me you’ll never try anything with her. Ever. She’s my wife. Do not cross that line.
My breath caught. The words blurred.
“I was in such a bad place then,” Dan said. “I admired what you and Pete had, and I said something I shouldn’t have. And he drew a line. I agreed. And then I forgot the conversation even existed.”
He sat on the edge of the bed, looking devastated.
Continue reading…
