Chapter 11 - ADRIAN DIDN’T WANT REVENGEAdrian came to Tennessee once.
Not for court.
For me.
We met at a coffee shop near the airport.
He was forty now.
Wedding ring.
Gray at his temples.
Calmer than I expected.
I thanked him.
He shook his head.
“You shouldn’t have needed me.”
“I did.”
He looked uncomfortable.
“Maybe.”
Then I apologized.
“For what?”
“I thought you were bitter.”
He laughed.
“I was.”
That surprised me.
“Both can be true.”
He had been angry during the divorce.
Said cruel things.
Threatened to fight over furniture he didn’t even want because he was desperate for leverage.
He did not polish himself into the perfect victim.
That made his story stronger.
“I made mistakes,” Adrian said. “Vanessa still hurt me.”
Simple.
No competition.
Then:
“Don’t teach Sophie that victims have to be perfect to be believed.”
I wrote that sentence down later.
Before leaving, Adrian asked:
“Does Vanessa know I contacted you?”
“Yes.”
“How is she?”
I stared.
“You care?”
He thought about it.
“I care in the way you care about someone you once loved who became dangerous to you.”
That was a kind of maturity I had not reached.
He continued:
“I hope she changes.”
Then:
“I hope she changes far away from your daughter.”
May you like
Both could be true.
Again.
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