Chapter 26
“Yes, I do.”
I walked into the room.
My hand touched the back of the chair where I had sat while signing away my marriage.
Adrian remained several feet behind me.
“I hated this table.”
“So did I.”
“Why did you keep it?”
He gave a humorless laugh.
“Punishment.”
I turned.
“That’s dramatic.”
“I had six years.”
His eyes moved toward the table.
“I used to sit here sometimes.”
“Why?”
“Because this was where I finally understood that there are things power cannot force back into existence.”
I swallowed.
“Why didn’t you throw it away?”
“Because I deserved to remember.”
I looked at him.
The Adrian I had married would never have said those words.
Maybe the Adrian I had married had needed to lose me before he understood them.
I hated that thought.
I also believed it.
“Take it outside.”
He frowned.
“What?”
“The table.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m tired of it.”
Within twenty minutes, four men were carrying the enormous dining table toward the back lawn.
Adrian stood beside me.
“What exactly are we doing?”
I looked at him.
“Do you still have that fire pit?”
His eyebrows rose.
An hour later, pieces of the table were burning.
Noah thought it was the greatest evening of his life.
Lily wanted marshmallows.
Nobody told them why their parents were setting expensive furniture on fire.
Some memories do not need to be inherited.
After the children went inside with Marcus, I remained near the flames.
Adrian stood beside me.
Rain began to fall.
Only a few drops at first.
Then more.
My body reacted before my mind did.
For one terrible second, I was back on wet pavement.
Pain in my hip.
Rain in my eyes.
Adrian walking away.
He saw it happen.
His face changed.
“Evelyn.”
I stepped backward.
He did not touch me.
Rain darkened his shirt.
“I’m sorry.”
I looked at him through the falling water.
Six years earlier, I had begged him not to leave.
Now he simply stood there.
Waiting for me to decide.
“I used to dream about that night.”
His face tightened.
“In the dream, you came back.”
His eyes closed.
“I should have.”
“I know.”
“I can’t change it.”
“I know.”
The fire hissed as rain struck the burning wood.
I looked at him.
“Come here.”
Adrian opened his eyes.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
He approached slowly.
For the first time in more than seven years, I reached for him.