Chapter 14 - Starting at Zero
We started dating.
Not remarried.
Not reconciled.
Dating.
Aaron picked me up on Fridays.
Sometimes I canceled.
He didn't complain.
Sometimes he worked late.
He told me beforehand.
Sometimes we argued.
We finished the arguments.
That was new.
The first serious test came when Aaron was offered a position in London.
Three years earlier, he would have accepted and informed me afterward.
This time he brought the offer to dinner.
“What do you think?”
I stared at him.
“You're asking me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because we're building something together.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“What do you want?”
“To stay.”
“Then stay.”
“Are you sure?”
“Aaron, don't turn asking my opinion into making me responsible for your choice.”
He smiled.
“That's fair.”
He declined London.
Not for me.
Because he genuinely wanted the life he had built.
That distinction mattered.
Months passed.
Trust returned in pieces.
Never dramatically.
A call when he was delayed.
A promise kept.
A difficult truth told before it became a secret.
One evening, Jasmine joined us for dinner.
She had rebuilt her career at another firm.
Seeing the three of us together would once have seemed impossible.
Now it felt strangely ordinary.
Before leaving, Jasmine hugged me.
“You're happy.”
“I am.”
“With him?”
I looked toward Aaron.
“With myself.”
She smiled.
“That's better.”
She was right.
Because loving Aaron again was possible only after I stopped needing him to complete anything.
And Aaron understood that.
Perhaps that was why, when he finally asked whether I could imagine marrying him again, he didn't have a ring.
He didn't kneel.
He didn't perform.
He simply asked.
And I said:
“Maybe.”
He laughed.
“I'll take maybe.”
May you like
But before maybe could become yes, I had one final thing to do.
I needed to visit the place where my grandmother died.
