Two months after divorcing my wife, I found her sitting alone in a hospital hallway wearing a patient gown

She looked toward the window.

“Because by the time I finished writing it, you came home late from work, ate dinner standing at the counter, and told me you were too tired to talk.”

I closed my eyes.

“And the next day?” I asked quietly.

“The next day you said maybe we should get divorced.”

I sank into the chair.

The timing was unbearable.

A letter.

There had been a letter.

Maybe the truth had been sitting in a drawer while I rehearsed my escape.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“I know.”

“Will you let me read it?”

She didn’t answer for a long time.

Then she said, “Not yet.”

I nodded, though disappointment pressed hard against my ribs.

“Okay.”

She looked at me then, almost confused.

“You’re not going to argue?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s yours.”

For a moment, her face seemed to tremble around an emotion she wouldn’t name.

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