“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.”
Margaret supported you for years.
“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.”
You went looking for someone who might.
Someone behind me whispered, “This is better than television.”
“Shh,” my nephew said. “I want to hear this.”
I held his 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.”
This is better than television.
“I loved you.”
Danny stared at me.
Then he tried one last time. “We can still fix this.”
I looked at the man I’d mourned for most of my life.
And suddenly, I didn’t see my nineteen-year-old husband anymore.
I saw a stranger wearing his face.
I loved you.
“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.”
Don’t waste another minute in my house.
“I know.”
“Can you forgive me?”
“Not today.”
“But someday?”
I looked at the empty wedding chairs.
For fifty-five years, I’d waited for Danny; I wasn’t waiting for anyone anymore.
I’d thought keeping that ring meant staying loyal to him. Now I knew the person who deserved my loyalty was me
