“Who had time for that? Sheila’s friends and sister all came by regularly to help her cope. She eventually saw a therapist.”

“What about you?”

“I had my sister. She would bring food when I worked double shifts, but she would bring Charlie with her. Seeing him just reminded me of what Sara wasn’t doing. What she would never do. So, she came less and less.” He sighed and looked away. “She made me see a therapist. I went for a few months, but all they talked about was how I was supporting my wife.”

“You drank.”

“Yes.” Most people had not been surprised to find him drunk more than a few times. “I drank. Just a little at first, but as time passed, two drinks became four, four became five or six or the whole bottle—and at some point, I realized that when I drank, I thought that Sara was still—” Tears burned again; he blinked them back. “But then when I sobered up, it was like losing her all over again.”

He would wake up screaming Sara’s name; Sheila would regress and fall apart into tears, inconsolable. For his part, he would be reliving the day she died every time he came to. “It had to stop.” He met her eyes. Annika watched him, steady and sure, small flecks of gold in those healing brown eyes. He relaxed yet further under her loving gaze.

“That’s why you stare at it.”

He nodded. “After a while, I knew I had to either stay sober or stay drunk.” He met her gaze. “It would have been easier to stay drunk, but Sheila wasn’t functioning, so I couldn’t lose my job. One of us had to keep it together. So, I stopped drinking.” He sighed. “Honestly, if I hadn’t felt like she needed me to be sober, I might still be drunk.”

“So, what happened between you two?”

“A couple years later, Sheila wanted to have another baby.” Anger welled up inside him as he remembered what had brought him here tonight. “But I didn’t want to replace Sara.”

Annika placed her hand on his chest. He felt his heart hammer against the palm of her hand.

“She wanted another baby and I didn’t, so she asked for a divorce. I just don’t think it helped that Sara looked a bit like me.” He gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I have days I can’t look in the mirror, either.”

“So now she’s married to someone else and having a baby?”

Daniel nodded. He couldn’t trust his voice.

“So?” Annika raised an eyebrow and appeared genuinely confused.

“So...she can’t replace Sara.” Wasn’t this obvious?

Annika raised herself onto one elbow, her voice soft and soothing. “She’s not replacing her. She’s giving her a sibling. She’s moving on.”

“How can she move on?” Daniel snapped.