Page 111 of Never Forget
"She told me you were planning to go to college together."
"Her father offered to pay for college when we were still together. I told Amber no. I've told her no at least three times since we broke up." I set the letter down on the counter. My hands were starting to shake and I put them on the edge of the counter to keep them still. "I don't know how she got this. I don't know who would forge something like this. But I never applied."
"Are you still seeing her, Sam?"
"What? No. Jesus. No."
"Then why does she still have your apartment key?"
Those goddamn keys.
I'd given them to her months ago so she could let herself in when I was on shift. I'd meant to ask for them back when I brokeup with her. Then Jack died, the whole world went sideways, and I forgot.
"I forgot," I said.
"You forgot?"
"Jamie, I swear to you. I broke up with her. I haven't seen her except once outside a bar. She still has the key because I forgot to ask for it back. That's the truth."
"You saw her at a bar?"
"I didn't meet with her. She just happened to be there. She asked if we could get back together. I said no."
She was looking at me the way she looked at a source she didn't believe.
"I know how it sounds," I said. "I know what it looks like. I'm telling you the truth. The key doesn't mean anything. She kept it. I didn't think about it."
"Did you also forget to tell me that Jack wasn't supposed to be working the night he saved Jenna and Quinn?"
The floor of my chest dropped out.
"Jamie."
"Answer me, Sam. Was Jack supposed to be there that night?"
I should have told her a long time ago. At the funeral. The first night she came back to Havensworth. Any of the mornings since. I hadn't because I still hadn't figured out how to live with it myself and I wasn't going to hand her something I couldn't carry.
"No, he wasn't. I asked him to cover my shift that night."
Something went out of her.
"So it's true, then." A tear slid down her cheek.
Every instinct in me went toward her. I wanted to close the space. I wanted to wipe the tears off her face. I wanted to take her in my arms and hold her. "Jamie?—"
She stepped back. "No, Sam."
"Jamie, please."
"So all this time, everything you've done for me and Rosie has all just been from guilt?" Her voice cracked.
"What? No. No, Jamie—where did you get that idea?"
"Amber told me everything."
"Amber is lying."
"Did she lie about you asking Jack to cover your shift?"
