I told him about Robert. About how much I’d loved him. And how much it still hurt.
“I didn’t think I’d ever feel anything again,” I admitted one day.
“Me neither.”
Before I knew it, we were having coffee every week. Then dinner. Then laughing again in a way I hadn’t in years.
My daughter noticed the change.
“Mom, you seem happier.”
“Do I?”
“Yeah. What’s going on?”
My daughter noticed the change.
I smiled. “I reconnected with an old friend.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Just a friend?”
I blushed.
***
Six months later, Walter looked at me across the table at our favorite diner.
“Debbie, I don’t want to waste any more time.”
My heart skipped.
“What do you mean?”
“Debbie, I don’t want to waste any more time.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box.
“I know we’re not kids anymore. I know we’ve both lived whole lives without each other. But I also know that I don’t want to spend whatever time I have left without you.”
He opened the box.
Inside was a simple gold band with a small diamond.
“Will you marry me?”
I started crying happy tears. The kind I thought I’d never cry again.
“Yes! Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He opened the box.
***
Our wedding was small and sweet.
My daughter and son were there. A few close friends. People who kept saying how beautiful it was that love could come back around.
I wore a cream-colored dress.
I’d spent weeks planning every detail myself. The flowers. The music. The vows I’d written by hand.
I wanted everything to be perfect.
Because this wasn’t just a wedding. It was proof that my life wasn’t over. That I could still choose happiness.
I’d spent weeks planning every detail myself.
Walter wore a navy suit. He looked so handsome yet so nervous.
When the officiant said, “You may kiss the bride,” Walter leaned in and kissed me gently.
Everyone clapped.
For the first time in 12 years, my heart felt full.
Everything felt perfect.
Then, while Walter was across the room, a young woman I didn’t recognize walked straight toward me.
She couldn’t have been more than 30.
A young woman I didn’t recognize walked straight toward me.
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