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Evelyn Walker nee Johnson had seen many horrible sights.
As a former nurse that had served at Pearl Harbor that dreaded December 7, 1941, she had witnessed death and destruction. She had witnessed sights unimaginable for most and had endured.
She had never seen anything as horrible as this.
Danny didn’t know she was here, too busy with his job and the downtown bar to realize that his wife had travelled to Tennessee to witness the wedding of his former best friend and her one true love.
The man who had walked out of their lives and had never looked back.
Captain Rafe McCawley.
She had married Danny to give her son a life with both his parents and it had cost her everything. Danny was too distant, blaming her for the fact that his best friend wanted nothing to do with him. She blamed Danny for keeping her from Rafe. Her son, Danny Junior, was spending most of his time with Sandra or Red, away from his parent’s crumbling marriage and indifference.
She didn’t hate her son, she really didn’t. Junior was the only thing that kept her from killing herself or leaving everything behind. She loved him, but she couldn’t help but resent him. He was the reason she didn’t have Rafe and was married to a man that cared more about his former friend than her. Every time she looked at him, she was reminded of that horrible moment when she had told Rafe about her pregnancy.
The moment she had lost him.
She sat in the back of the church, staring at the man she loved more than anything in the room. He was standing at the alter next to the preacher and a man she didn’t know, probably another soldier that he had met during the war. He was nervous but happy and for just a moment, she pictured how their wedding would have gone. Would he have looked like that or would the nerves not exist due to him being so happy at the thought of her and their future?
She’d never get to know. Soon that horrible music started playing and she shakily stood to her feet, turning to look at the door as an older gentleman appeared with the bride.
She looked nothing like her, something that eased her heart. If the woman looked like her, she might have lost her temper and screamed at the fact that a mere copy was receiving her happy ending. No, the source of her envy had long blond hair that was curled underneath her veil. Her hazel eyes seemed sweet and her smile made her face glow as she stared at Rafe. The dress was a long-sleeved chiffon dress with a high collar and buttons that reached the waist. It was simple, as was her wildflower bouquet.
Evelyn had never hated anyone more than she hated this woman.
Her gaze followed her as the woman walked to the end of the aisle to meet an awe-struck Rafe. The old man shook his hand before handing her over to the captain with a smile. She sat down as she watched the vows.
It took everything in her to not stand and scream when the preacher asked if anyone objected. She was a married woman and she had dignity, even if she hated it.
Rafe would just scoff and ask for her to leave. He had made it very clear that he was over her.
Instead, she bit her tongue and fought back tears as Dorothy Elizabeth Fergusson became Mrs. Rafe McCawley, a name that should have been hers.
She didn’t go to the reception. Instead she went back home to her husband who was out with friends and her son who wasn’t home. She pulled out Rafe’s letters and reread them for the thousandth time, crying in her closet for the man who she had lost.
Because as much as she wanted to blame Danny and Junior for keeping her from Rafe and Rafe for almost dying, she knew the truth.
She had lost Rafe to another woman.
And it was all her fault.