“How so?”

“She wanted to hurt them the way they had hurt her.” He looked up at the sky. “Anyway, I guess I brought up the idea one time too many, and that’s where it all ended for us. Connie accused me of siding with her siblings. I tried to tell her that wasn’t the case, but suddenly she was accusing me of believing she had made her father change his will, and that maybe deep down I believed she had something to do with his death.”

“I’m so sorry. For everything.” I jolted back from the picnic table. Those had not been my words. They had come from my mouth, but they were not mine.

I shot a look over my shoulder, suddenly convinced Constance would be there, but if she was, I couldn’t see her.

Ben patted my hand. “It was all a long time ago. Anyway, I tried to make things right between Connie and me, but it wasn’t meant to be. Eventually I had to get on with my life. It took a few years, but then I met my wonderful Patty.”

“But she wasn’t your soul mate.” This time the words were mine, but I couldn’t believe they had left my mouth. “I am so sorry. I never should have said that.”

“Don’t worry. And yes, Patty is my soul mate. You can have more than one. I’ve been fortunate to find two of them in my lifetime.”

It surprised me how certain he was.

“I can see by the look on your face you don’t agree.”

I looked down at my hands.

“One day life might surprise you.”

“Thank you for sharing all this with me. I know it couldn’t have been easy, and you certainly didn’t have to.”

“Bah, I think it’s done me some good. I know what people think of Connie, but who she became, it wasn’t who she was. Not in her heart. I think I needed to tell someone that.”

I smiled.

“Now,” he said with a groan as he pushed himself up, “I should probably get going. I promised Patty I’d pick up groceries on the way home. She’ll have half the town looking for me soon.”

“Before you go,” I said, reaching out a hand to stop him, “you said Constance told you she wanted to respect her father’s wishes. And that it was a mystery to you why Rip Sr. wanted to cut the others out of the will, but did Constance ever try to explain it? Was he simply being vindictive for some reason?”

“That’s the part that was so strange. The last few times I spoke to Rip he expressed a lot of regret for how he lived his life, especially how he treated his children. But in answer to your question, no, Connie never said.”

I thanked Ben again and got to my feet. I stood by the table as he took his leave.

At one point he looked back and gave me a wave, and I held my hand up in return.