She found an excuse each day the rest of the week to go to the supermarket. There was always something they needed at home, just like her craving for raspberry soda suddenly had increased. They talked a little each day. He was just as easy to talk to as she remembered and she found herself thinking about him more and more. Not that he had ever left her mind during the years but now he entered it more often.
A new week had started and Tuesday Randy had to go on one of his business trips again. This meant he would stay the night away. She loved it when he was out of town. She decided to get a bottle of wine like last time and enjoy her night away from him.
"So you liked it?" Dean asked as she put a bottle of the whine wine he had picked for her the week before on the counter.
"It was really good. You were right," she answered.
"What's the occasion?" He asked.
"Being home alone till tomorrow," she answered.
"You celebrate that?" He asked and laughed.
She just smiled. What could she say? Yes, she celebrated whenever Randy was gone.
"How about you come over to my place instead? I'll cook you dinner and serve you drinks?" He asked.
She bit her lip. It wasn't like she didn't want to.
"I don't know," she answered.
"Come on, for old time's sake. We'll talk about how life's been treating us without any customers interfeering," he said.
"Sure, why not? What's your address?" She asked.
She was nervous as she rang his doorbell. He opened shortly after and smiled at her.
"You look good," he said.
"Thanks, you too," she said.
He hugged her.
"You still smell like lavender," he said.
"Same old perfume," she said and gave him a shy smile.
A couple of hours later they had finished dinner and was well into wine bottle no 2.
"How did things go with Barbie the other day?" She asked.
"She was mad that I still don't wanna see her again," he answered.
"Why don't you?" She asked.
"She was a screamer. Like a banshee," he laughed.
"What's wrong with that?" She asked.
"Never been into the whole screaming scenario. I prefer more quiet girls. Like you. You never screamed like that," he answered.
"I wasn't silent either," she said.
"No, you were just right. Your breathing got heavy, then small moans and grunts, and a louder moan when you came," he said.
She blushed. He was still as forward as he had been back then.
"Yeah, I remember," she said.
"Remember? You don't do that anymore?" He said and chuckled.
"No, with Randy I am dead silent," she answered.
He stopped laughing.
"Why?" He asked.
"Because I don't want him. I never have," she answered.
"Then why did you marry him?" He asked.
"You know why," she answered.
"No, I don't," he said.
She emptied her glass of wine, then she stood up.
"I married him because of the baby. My parents forced me to do it. You were gone and I was scared and alone. He said he'd take care of the baby but he was so happy when I lost it," she said.
"Wait a minute, back up. You lost a baby?" He asked.
"Yeah, I lost our baby. You know that," she answered.
"Our baby? You were pregnant with our baby?" He asked.
"Don't pretend like you don't know these things. I wrote you a letter each week for the first six months telling you all about what was going on. I didn't know where you were so I went to your dad every week. He promised to send them to you," she said.
"I never got any letters," he said.
He stood up and walked towards her, reaching out for her, but she stepped backwards. She felt angry that he denied it. She grabbed her purse and found his letter.
"If you didn't get any of my letters, how come you finally sent me this one telling me that you didn't care and to leave you alone?" She yelled.
"I didn't send you anything," he said but she wasn't listening.
She threw the letter at him and stormed out of his house. He opened the letter and recognized his father's hand writing right away. He read the letter and felt so angry.
"If you weren't already dead, dad, I would kill you myself," he sneered out in the empty air.
Then he suddenly remembered his father's last words on his death bed. How he had talked about being sorry about something and a box that Dean had to open and go through. He had gotten the box but never opened it. He had stashed it away in the attic and forgotten all about it. He stormed up there.
He found the box and opened it. There was a note from his father on top, saying how sorry he was for what he had ruined, how he had let big money talk instead of thinking about Dean's emotions. There was a bag under the note. He opened it and found 24 unopened letters with his name on it. He opened the first one and started reading.
He was up most of the night reading through her letters one by one. His tears wouldn't stop falling. Everything she had gone through was right there on paper. She had tried to tell him everything. The baby, the marriage, her parents forcing her, the way Randy treated her, how she begged for him to come back and take her away. He had never come. How could he when he didn't know what was going on? Instead his dad had sent her a fake letter and she had stopped writing him. Shortly after she had left town together with Randy and never tried to contact him again. He hadn't tried to contact her either. Hearing she had married Randy had made him stay away. He thought she had done it by choice, not by force. This changed everything.