Chapter 25 - CLAIRE AND ETHAN
We never remarried each other.
People kept assuming we would.
We co-parented too well for gossip to accept divorce.
Ethan dated.
I dated.
Both badly at first.
Then normally.
I married again at forty-two.
Daniel Brooks.
Civil engineer.
Widower.
No family empire.
He asked Sophie before proposing to me?
No.
He asked me.
Correct.
Then talked to Sophie because living arrangements affected her.
She approved by saying:
“He makes good waffles.”
High standard.
Ethan married later too.
Rachel Morgan.
Teacher.
I liked her annoyingly much.
Sophie stood in both weddings.
No loyalty test.
At one school event someone asked:
“How do you all get along?”
Sophie answered:
“Therapy and calendars.”
Exactly.
Ethan and I eventually talked about the doorway one final time.
We were fifty.
Sophie away at college.
He said:
“I still see your face.”
“I still see yours.”
“What did you think?”
“That you had chosen them.”
“I had.”
For three seconds.
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“That’s why I don’t ask you to reinterpret it.”
Thank you.
Then I admitted:
“I used to think if you became good enough afterward, I would owe you reconciliation.”
His face softened.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Did that hurt?”
“Yes.”
We laughed.
Adult relationships can hold both.
He walked me to my car.
May you like
No blocked exit.
Never again.
