Chapter 9 - Jessica Comes Back
Jessica returned two months later.
Not for the house.
For Daniel.
She asked to meet me first.
We sat outside.
She placed the pale blue robe between us.
“I couldn't leave it with Maya,” she said. “It felt cowardly.”
I touched the fabric.
For months, seeing it in my closet had made me angry.
Now it was simply cloth.
Robert's love wasn't inside a robe.
Nobody could wear that away.
Jessica apologized without excuses.
Not perfectly.
But sincerely enough that I listened.
She admitted she had liked living in Malibu.
She liked strangers believing the house belonged to her.
She liked photographs of herself beside the pool.
Eventually, pretending became entitlement.
“I started thinking of you as the obstacle,” she said.
“At least you're saying it.”
“I was awful.”
“Yes.”
She almost smiled.
“I suppose I earned that.”
“You did.”
She asked whether I could forgive her.
I gave her the same answer I'd once given Daniel.
“I don't know.”
She nodded.
“But I can see whether you've changed.”
May you like
That was enough.
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