The only exception came one afternoon when Janet was showing me Beth’s baby album.
There was a photograph of a young man carrying a newborn baby out of the hospital. He looked exhausted but happier than anyone I’d ever seen.
“That’s Richard,” Janet said. “The day Beth was born.”
Before I could respond, she turned the page.
“It’s still too hard. I put the rest away years ago.”
I never brought it up again.
When Bryce and Beth announced their engagement, the question of who would walk her down the aisle eventually came up.
Jacob offered.
“Only if you’d like me to,” he told Beth. “No pressure whatsoever.”
She hugged him.
“Actually, I’d like to ask my godfather.”
His name was Patrick. He’d been part of Beth’s life since she was a baby, and she called him every Sunday.
Patrick agreed immediately.
But then he missed every wedding rehearsal.
