“You had children with her.”
“It’s complicated.”
“No. It was complicated yesterday. Today it’s remarkably simple.”
He stepped closer.
“Let me explain privately.”
“Why? You explained my sister’s supposed betrayal publicly enough.”
Helen cut in.
“Tell her who paid your bills, Danny.”
He shot her a look.
I turned back to him.
“Margaret supported you for years. When she died, most of what she had went to your children.”
“That was manipulated.”
“And when they stopped supporting you, you went looking for someone who might.”
Danny stared at me.
I smiled sadly.
“That’s when you found me.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“No? Because you seemed awfully interested in whether my house was paid off.”
His face changed.
“And my will.”
“Sweetheart…”
“Don’t call me that.”
Someone behind me whispered, “This is better than television.”
“Shh,” my nephew said. “I want to hear this.”
I held Danny’s gaze.
“You didn’t come back because you remembered your wife, Danny. You came back because you remembered what she owned.”
“That isn’t true. I thought about you.”
“How touching.”
“I loved you.”
Danny stared at me.
Then he made one last attempt.
“We can still fix this.”
I looked at the man I’d mourned for most of my life.
And suddenly, I no longer saw my nineteen-year-old husband.
I saw a stranger wearing his face.
“You were right about one thing,” I said.
“What?”
“At our age, we really shouldn’t waste time.” I pointed toward the gate. “So please don’t waste another minute in my house.”
Nobody spoke as Danny walked away.
Helen stepped beside me.
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
“Can you forgive me?”
“Not today.”
“But someday?”
I looked at the rows of empty wedding chairs.
For fifty-five years, I’d waited for Danny.
I wasn’t waiting for anyone anymore.
I’d thought keeping that cheap ring all those years meant staying loyal to him.
Now I understood the person who deserved my loyalty was me.
