I took one more step toward the courtyard and heard David say something that made my entire body go cold.
\n\u201cI promised her I wouldn’t tell her yet.\u201d
\nA woman answered him softly.
\n\u201cYou can’t keep this from her forever, David.\u201d
\nI froze.
\nHer?
\nWho was \u201cher\u201d?
\nAnd why was David talking about me as though I wasn’t supposed to know what was happening?
\nI pressed myself against the stone wall and listened.
\n\u201cI just need a little more time,\u201d David said. \u201cShe has been through enough.\u201d
\nThe woman’s voice became sharper.
\n\u201cYou’ve only known her for a week.\u201d
\n\u201cI know.\u201d
\n\u201cAnd you’re already planning this?\u201d
\nThere was silence.
\nThen David sighed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don’t understand. I haven’t felt this way in years.\u201d
\nMy heart began pounding.
\nWas he talking about me?
\nFor one beautiful week, I’d allowed myself to believe that maybe love could find me again at sixty-seven.
\nMaybe David had felt it too.
\nBut now, standing outside that courtyard, I suddenly wondered whether every sweet moment we’d shared had been part of some elaborate plan.
\nThen the woman spoke again.
\n\u201cDoes she know about the house?\u201d
\nI stopped breathing.
\nThe house?
\nWhat house?
\nDavid had never mentioned owning a house in Malta.
\n\u201cShe doesn’t know anything yet,\u201d David replied.
\n\u201cGood. Keep it that way until tomorrow.\u201d
\nTomorrow?
\nSomething important was supposed to happen tomorrow.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I stepped backward, desperate to get away before they discovered me.
\nBut my heel struck a small metal bucket beside the wall.
\nCLANG!
\nThe sound echoed through the courtyard.
\nThe conversation stopped instantly.
\n\u201cWho’s there?\u201d David called.
\nI panicked.
\nI hurried back toward the restaurant, pretending I had simply gotten lost.
\nA few seconds later, David appeared through the doorway.
\nHis face had changed.
\nThe warm, playful smile I’d fallen for was gone.
\n\u201cMargaret?\u201d
\nI turned around.
\n\u201cDavid.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d
\nI forced a laugh.
\n\u201cI was looking for the restroom.\u201d
\nHe stared at me for a moment too long.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then his expression softened.
\n\u201cOh. It’s just down the hall.\u201d
\nI nodded.
\nBut as we walked back toward our table, I couldn’t stop thinking about what I’d heard.
\nThe house.
\nTomorrow.
\nAnd the woman.
\nWhen we sat down, David reached across the table and gently took my hand.
\n\u201cI’m sorry I disappeared.\u201d
\nI looked directly into his eyes.
\n\u201cWho was she?\u201d
\nHis fingers suddenly tightened around mine.
\n\u201cWhat woman?\u201d
\n\u201cThe woman in the courtyard.\u201d
\nFor several seconds, he said nothing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Then he smiled. I took one more step toward the courtyard and heard David say something that made my entire body go cold. \u201cI promised her I wouldn’t tell her yet.\u201d A woman … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7128"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7135,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7128\/revisions\/7135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cSomeone from my past.\u201d
\n\u201cYour past?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\n\u201cAn old friend?\u201d
\nHe looked away.
\n\u201cSomething like that.\u201d
\nI wanted to believe him.
\nGod, I wanted to.
\nBut something inside me told me that I was being given only half the truth.
\nDinner continued, but everything felt different.
\nEvery laugh seemed forced.
\nEvery smile felt rehearsed.
\nAnd when David walked me back to my hotel, he stopped outside the entrance.
\n\u201cI have something special planned for tomorrow,\u201d he said.
\nMy stomach tightened.
\n\u201cWhat kind of something special?\u201d
\nHe smiled.
\n\u201cThe kind that might change everything.\u201d
\nI stared at him.
\n\u201cChange everything how?\u201d
\n\u201cYou’ll see.\u201d
\nThen he kissed my forehead and walked away.
\nI watched him disappear around the corner.
\nFor a moment, I stood there beneath the warm Maltese night sky, wondering if I had just met the man who would change the rest of my life…
\nor the man who was about to break my heart.
\nI barely slept that night.
\nAt six in the morning, someone knocked on my hotel door.
\nI opened it cautiously.
\nNo one was there.
\nOnly a small envelope lay on the floor.
\nMy name was written across the front.
\nMARGARET.<\/strong>
\nMy hands began to shake.
\nI opened it.
\nInside was a single photograph.
\nIt showed David standing outside a beautiful white stone house.
\nBut David wasn’t alone.
\nBeside him stood the same woman I’d heard talking to him the night before.
\nAnd written on the back of the photograph were six words:
\n\u201cASK HIM WHO THIS HOUSE BELONGS TO.\u201d<\/strong>
\nI stared at the photograph in disbelief.
\nThen my phone rang.
\nIt was David.
\nI answered.
\n\u201cMargaret, please don’t leave your hotel.\u201d
\nHis voice sounded frightened.
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause someone has found out.\u201d
\n\u201cFound out what?\u201d
\nThere was a long silence.
\nThen David whispered:
\n\u201cEverything.\u201d
\nThe call suddenly ended.
\nAnd for the first time since I arrived in Malta, I wondered whether saying \u201cyes\u201d to everything had been the biggest mistake of my life………………<\/p>\nClick Here to continuous Read\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b Full Ending Story\ud83d\udc49:PART 3 \u2014 THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"