This was the only picture in the house he hadn’t stored in a box on a shelf in the back of his closet. One last reminder of the happiest moments of his life. He still had a closet full of clothing from Malinda’s job as a personal shopper; most of them still had tags. But for some reason he still couldn’t let go. Some reason? No, he knew the reason. How could he let go? If he let go of the past, he’d be finalizing the fact that he had failed the one person he’d loved more than life itself. If he severed all ties with that portion of his life, the finality of the truth would settle in deeper, and quite possibly cripple him. He just couldn’t bear to face the truth. Not only was Malinda gone, he hadn’t been able to do anything to stop her swift spiral down to the depths of her drug overdose. And Callie thought he knew nothing of hell on earth? He lived it every single day. The reminder of the life he thought he’d have with Malinda was always in the forefront of his mind.
