Chapter 10 - THE TABLE FOR THREE

Friday dinner became another Friday dinner.

Then another.

Nothing dramatic happened.

That was what made it meaningful.

We ate pizza.

We watched Grace spill juice.

We argued about whether a three-year-old needed another stuffed dinosaur.

We laughed.

There were no luxury hotels.

No champagne.

No expensive jewelry.

And I had never felt richer.

One night, Grace fell asleep against my chest.

Clara sat across from me.

"She's heavy."

"I've noticed."

"You can put her down."

"I know."

I didn't move.

Clara smiled.

Then her smile faded.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Do you still have my ring?"

My heart stopped.

"Yes."

"Where?"

"Safe."

"Why?"

I thought carefully.

"Because throwing it away felt disrespectful."

"And you never sold it?"

"No."

"Even when you sold everything else?"

"No."

Clara looked down.

"I hated that ring for a while."

"I understand."

"It represented everything I thought was real."

I remained silent.

"Then I realized the ring didn't betray me."

Her eyes met mine.

"You did."

"I know."

"But you aren't that man anymore."

I swallowed.

"I don't want to be."

Grace shifted in my arms.

Clara reached over and touched her hair.

"I don't know if I can ever trust you the way I did."

"You shouldn't."

She frowned.

"That's not what I expected you to say."

"The way you trusted me before was blind."

I looked at her.

"I don't want blind trust."

"If you ever trust me again, I want it to be because I've earned it."

Clara's eyes filled.

"That's a very lawyer answer."

I smiled.

"Occupational hazard."

She laughed softly.

Then something changed between us.

Not forgiveness.

Not yet.

But possibility.

Several weeks later, Clara agreed to coffee without Grace.

Our first time alone together since the divorce.

We talked for three hours.

About work.

Parenthood.

Therapy.

Fear.

The affair came up too.

I didn't avoid it.

Clara asked questions she had never asked.

I answered every one.

Even when the answers made me look terrible.

Especially then.

When we left, rain was falling.

I opened an umbrella.

Clara stepped beneath it.

Our shoulders touched.

I felt electricity.

But I didn't reach for her.

At her car, she turned.

"Thank you."

"For coffee?"

"For not trying to kiss me."

I laughed nervously.

"I thought about it."

"I know."

She smiled.

Then she leaned forward.

And kissed my cheek.

I stood in the rain after she drove away.

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