The flashback scenes in ’Til Death Do Us Part chronicle the time from when Henry and Sam first began their courtship through to the night before Henry leaves on his ill-fated flight. To catch up with the flashback scenes previously posted, click this link to the the category archives: https://authoraddisonalbright.com/category/til-death-do-us-part/flashback-scenes-from-sams-pov/.

This series of blog posts was motivated by a comment from one of the book’s reviewers, Bethany at Rainbow Gold Reviews, who made the comment that she wished the flashback scenes had been from Sam’s POV instead of from Henry’s.

This week’s scene is from the 11th flashback in the book, found at the beginning of Chapter 12. What do you think, do you prefer the original or Sam’s POV?:

Henry sat drumming his fingers against his thigh, with his cell phone pressed lightly against his ear. As pale as Henry appeared, Sam was no longer so optimistic of a positive outcome. Henry’s judgment was usually pretty sound, and he clearly didn’t hold out any hope. Sam rested a hand on Henry’s shoulder and gave it a light squeeze of encouragement.

“Think positive,” Sam whispered. “Maybe they’ll be thrilled to hear from you.”

It was doubtful the words changed Henry’s opinion of what his parents’ response might be, but the hard expression in Henry’s eyes softened as he returned Sam’s gaze.

Henry stiffened at the same time a muffled voice said “Hello?”

“Dad?” Henry replied.

“Who is this?” Either the volume of Henry’s received was cranked up, or the man spoke loudly—maybe both—but Sam could easily hear both sides of the conversation. That query made no sense, though, since Henry’d mentioned he had no brothers.

“It’s Henry.”

“Are you calling because you’ve come to your senses?”

Sam’s gut twisted. He should never have pushed Henry to make this call. Henry remained silent, and the muffled voice added, “No?”

Henry’s jaw tightened. “I’m calling because I’m getting married.” He bit out the words. “I thought you might want to know. Might even want to come.”

“Marrying a woman?”

“No.”

“So you’re still a faggot.” It was a statement, not a question. It was said in a voice dripping with venom. “Do me a favor. Change your name. I don’t want my name associated with a faggot wedding.”

Henry disconnected the call without saying another word and dropped the phone onto the tabletop as if it burned his hand. He turned to face Sam. “I want to hyphenate our names. Will you do that with me?”

I’m sorry. Sam opened his mouth to say the words, but they stuck in his throat. How could he have put his fiancé through that? “Absolutely,” he replied. At this point he’d do whatever Henry wanted, but he hoped it was for the right reasons, and not for revenge. “If you’re sure that’s what you want.”

Henry nodded. “Miller is my name, too, goddammit. I’ve accomplished a lot in my life using that name, so yes, it’s what I want to do.”

Some of the tension left Sam’s shoulders as Henry stood and stepped into Sam’s open arms. “I love you,” Henry whispered.

“I love you, too.”

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

’Til Death Do Us Part

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