I waited.
He continued.
“Melissa wasn’t what I thought she was.”
I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
“Gary, I don’t think you understand the problem.”
“Then explain it to me.”
“The problem isn’t Melissa. The problem is that you believed you could abandon your marriage and return whenever you became
dissatisfied with your new relationship.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I never thought you’d actually leave me.”
That sentence made my heart ache.
Not because I wanted him back.
But because it revealed just how little he had understood me.
“You thought I’d wait,” I said.
He nodded faintly.
“I thought you’d always be there.”
I held the roses against my chest.
“I was there, Gary. For twenty-two years. You were the one who walked away.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“Can we start over?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“
Because I don’t want to start over with you.”
