He stared at me.
“Do you have someone else?”
I laughed softly.
“No.”
“Then why?”
I looked around my house.
At the garden I had planted.
At the patio furniture I had chosen.
At the life that had slowly become mine again.
“Because I’m finally happy without you.”
He stood there as though I had slapped him.
Then he whispered, “I never thought I’d hear you say that.”
“Neither did I.”
He looked down at his shoes.
“I suppose I deserve
that.”
I didn’t answer.
After a moment, he turned and walked toward his car.
I watched him leave.
Then I placed the roses in a vase.
They were beautiful.
But they didn’t change anything.
PART THREE: THE SECRET GARY HAD NEVER EXPECTED ME TO DISCOVER
Two months after the divorce was finalized, I received a letter from our former accountant.
The envelope contained a copy of a financial statement from the final year of our marriage.
