I smiled.
Gary had once believed that I would
always be waiting for him.
He thought twenty-two years of marriage meant I would forgive anything.
He thought his return would be enough to make me forget the betrayal.
But he was wrong.
The day he showed up with his suitcases and golf clubs, he expected a welcome home.
Instead, he received a reminder.
That my life was no longer his to reclaim.
And that my happiness was no longer something he could take away.
I took a sip of champagne and looked toward the garden.
For the first time
in my life, I wasn’t waiting for someone else to choose me.
I had chosen myself.
And that was the most beautiful welcome home I could ever have given myself.
