Chapter 9 - Strangers Who Remembered Everything
Clara moved into the guest wing.
Ethan didn't ask her to return to their bedroom.
That restraint mattered.
They began again slowly.
Breakfast.
Walks with Noah.
Conversations after he fell asleep.
Sometimes they remembered happiness.
Sometimes they discovered how much pain stood between them.
One night Clara asked about Vanessa.
“Did you love her?”
Ethan answered truthfully.
“I tried.”
That hurt more than a lie would have.
“Did you?”
“I cared about her. I thought Noah needed stability. I thought I needed to stop living with a ghost.”
Clara looked away.
“I was the ghost.”
“Yes.”
He reached across the table.
“But you aren't anymore.”
Clara didn't take his hand.
Not yet.
She needed to become a person again before becoming Ethan's wife again.
She began therapy.
She visited old friends.
She stood at the grave bearing her own name.
Ethan accompanied her but remained several steps behind.
Clara touched the stone.
CLARA CALDWELL
BELOVED WIFE AND MOTHER.
“How strange,” she whispered.
“What?”
“To read how people remembered you while you're still alive.”
Ethan moved beside her.
“I remembered you every day.”
She finally took his hand.
And somewhere behind them, Noah placed a flower on the empty grave.
“Mommy doesn't need this anymore.”
Clara smiled.
“No.”
May you like
She picked him up.
“She doesn't.”
