Catalyst by Leighton Riley Read Free Book Online

doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, our silence at ease. When he does, I learn a new side of him.
    “Nora.” He clears his throat, and I immediately sit up, knowing that whatever he’s about to say, I’m going to want to listen. “We’d been together almost a year. This was just a few months after graduation. She had just found out she was pregnant, and I was over the moon with joy.”
    Maguire and I weren’t close enough back then to stay in touch after graduation. Everyone seemed to do their own thing, worrying about putting their degree to use and progressing in society. I never thought about his time between graduation and now, really. I just assumed he worked, dated, and maybe had settled down somewhere along the way.
    The way he brings up her name doesn’t sound positive. His voice is far away, as he relives the past. When he pauses, I have to know why they weren’t together anymore and where his child was. He’s never brought it up before. “What happened?”
    “She became more distant. I tried to give her time, making sure she wasn’t too stressed out and trying to make sure she was eating healthy. She became so detached from me, I knew something was wrong. She had scheduled her second doctor’s visit while I was traveling for work. I rearranged things and made it home in time, but when I got to the office, the front desk receptionist told me that the father was already in the room with her and I’d have to have a seat and wait for them to finish. I thought there had to be some mistake. It seemed like I waited for days. When she finally came out, she was holding my best friend’s hand. I stormed out of the room, not bothering to wait for answers. Just before I pulled into the driveway was when I got the call. They’d been in a car accident after leaving the doctor’s office. Both were killed instantly.” His hands cover his face, crying evident from his shaky voice. My heart hurts for the man in front of me. He seems so strong, so put together.
    How selfish of me to think I was the only one with a painful past?
    “That’s terrible, Maguire. I know we lost touch after we got out of school, but I had no idea.” Who had been there for him during those months of pain and heartache? I lost Liam, but Maguire lost his pregnant girlfriend and best friend all in one sweep. I’m dying to know whether the child was Maguire’s or his friend’s, but I know it’s not okay to ask right now. He shared a piece of him that he could have easily kept hidden.
    Poor Maguire. I have Shannon and Noah to keep me upright, but who did Maguire have? I wanted to console him, to be there for him.
    “It’s in the past.”
    “But still a part of you today.” I come back.
    He looks up at me and gives the smallest smile. I’ve never seen him like this before, his body not composed and confident. His eyes show the pain and conflict, his body more slack, more relaxed.
    “It is, but not in the painful way you imagine. Every day I think about how I need to live for them, how I still have a chance to do good, and how never to take opportunities for granted. We have one life, and I’ll be damned if I don’t make it count.”
    “I think I’ll get there one day. It’s weird going through this change. It’s barely noticeable at first, but looking back over the past few months, my pain has changed, and I don’t hurt as much physically. It’s still a constant, but I’m able to carry on now, not succumb to seclusion in my room, I don’t want to be alone all the time anymore. Was it that way for you?”
    “It’s always hardest when it’s fresh. I went through the stages, and when I started really living again, I hated myself but also was excited about what was to come. Slowly, ever so slowly, I got myself back. Now, it’s just a small bruise where before, it was a deep gash that wouldn’t stop bleeding.”
    I think over that last sentence for a while. I had never thought of it that way before, but it fits my