Chapter 14 - Six Years Between Us
“I don't want you to stay because of the boys,” Rosalind said.
“I wouldn't.”
“You might.”
We sat outside after they fell asleep.
She was right to be cautious.
We weren't thirty-five and thirty-one anymore.
We had scars.
History.
Anger.
I asked her one question.
“Do you still love me?”
She looked at me.
“Yes.”
I exhaled.
“I still love you.”
That wasn't enough.
Love had existed six years ago too.
Trust had failed.
So we started again.
Not with engagement rings.
With coffee.
Walks.
Conversations.
Therapy separately and together.
I learned who Rosalind had become.
She learned who I had become.
Some days were easy.
Others weren't.
Once she disappeared for two hours without answering her phone, and I panicked.
When she returned, she found me pacing.
“My battery died.”
“I thought you'd left.”
Her face changed.
“Christopher.”
“I know.”
She took my hand.
“I'm not disappearing.”
Another time, I was late coming home because of a board call.
Rosalind became distant.
She later admitted she had spent years associating silence from me with abandonment.
We were two people learning that the past could echo without repeating.
Months passed.
Hawthorne Resorts stabilized.
Martin remained CEO.
I became executive chairman with fewer operational duties.
For the first time, my calendar contained school pickup.
Pediatric dentist.
Soccer.
Family dinner.
The things I once considered interruptions became the structure of my life.
Then Baltimore called.
The waterfront property was back on the market after the fraudulent intermediaries were removed.
The legitimate owners offered us the acquisition at a dramatically lower price.
Martin asked whether I wanted to reopen negotiations.
I looked at Rosalind.
Six months earlier, I had believed that property was the biggest opportunity of my career.
Now I knew better.
“Only if I can be home Friday.”
Martin laughed.
“You've changed.”
“Yes.”
May you like
And I had no intention of changing back.
---
