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“I know,” he said, near tears, “I was with you.”
“Oh.” She looked down at her plate for a minute and then back at him. “Look, let’s be honest. I’m sure somewhere I still love you. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t hate you so much, or wouldn’t have. I don’t think I hate you right now. I’m not even pissed. We had a nice lunch and I enjoyed it. We have a beautiful daughter, and I loved you with all my heart. Maybe I always will in some secret place in my heart. Maybe ‘until death do us part’ is for real. I hope not, but it could be. I hate that you left me for Luisa and abandoned us. But you did.
“You’re doing a nice thing for Sava
“I get it, Alexa. I’m sorry that I even brought it up. I just wanted you to know that I still love you and I’m sorry.” Hearing it made her mad again. It wasn’t fair of him to tell her that he was in love with her. Not now, ten years later, after all she’d been through since, all the pain, all the agony, all the tears over him. She looked at him with fury in her eyes.
“Don’t ever tell me that again. It’s self-serving. You’re sorry now, but where were you for the last ten years? With Luisa. If you never say that again, maybe we can be friends. Deal?”
He nodded somberly, and knew he was lucky she was even willing to do that. “Deal. I’m sorry.”
“Good. Go home to your wife now, or whatever you want to do. I’m going to meet Sava
They walked outside after he paid the check, and she smiled at him. “Thank you. I feel better.” She had waited ten years to say those things to him, and had finally had the chance. She knew that that had been a gift. He didn’t feel better, and she could see it. But that was no longer her problem.
She left him outside the restaurant and drove to the soccer game, and found Sava
Sava
“Turner, this is my mom.”
“Hi,” Alexa said, smiling broadly. He looked like a sweet boy, and so young. And as she looked at him, she remembered that he had lost his mother and felt sorry for him.
“It’s very nice to meet you, ma’am. I’ve heard a lot of great things about you from Sava
“I’ve heard some pretty nice things about you too. How was the game?”
“We won,” he said, gri
“Turner scored the wi
She took them to their favorite hangout for a burger and shake. They chatted easily for an hour, and then Sava
When they went back to the room after their manicures, Alexa told Sava
“Daddy asked me in a roundabout way today if I’d come back to him-he said that he still loves me and regrets what he did.”
“What did you say to him?” Sava
“I told him never to say that to me again. It’s enough if we can be friends. That in itself is a miracle after what happened. I could never trust him again. I would never, ever trust him. And I don’t want to go there again.”
“What did he say?”
“I think he was shocked,” Alexa said honestly.
“Was he pissed?”
“I don’t think so. Sad maybe. It wasn’t even fair for him to ask me, or imply it. It’s been too long, and he hurt me too much.” Sava
“I understand, Mom. I think you did the right thing.” Even Sava
“He always did,” Alexa said quietly, “even when he was married to me, at the end. They deserve each other.” Sava
They had a wonderful evening and talked late into the night. Turner called Sava
He sat down with Alexa in their living room and talked about old times, and his life now. He apologized for not writing to her, and she said she understood. He had been young and his mother had forbidden it. Alexa knew that, although out of loyalty to his mother he didn’t say it. He was as polite and sweet as he had been as a child, and he was very proud when he introduced her to Scarlette. She seemed like a nice girl, and Alexa hoped they would make each other happy. They talked about the wedding for a few minutes and how stressful it was organizing everything, and then they left. They were going to have lunch with Scarlette’s parents to work on the guest list for the wedding.