My Second Life Starts With Divorce novel · Chapter 18 of 24

Chapter 18: Nine Ten Again

I took a cab to Alder and Ninth and got out at five past nine.

The night was cold and dry, with a hard wind and stars over the dry cleaner's sign.

It was the first time I had seen the corner clear.

He stood by the bus shelter in his dark coat with his hands out of his pockets, where I could see them.

He did not come toward me.

I crossed the rest of the way myself.

"You came," he said.

"I said I would."

"You don't have to stay."

"I know what I have to do, Declan."

I stopped an arm's length from him and looked at the road.

Two lanes, a crosswalk with faded paint, a streetlight with a moth beating itself against the glass.

"You can't talk," I said. "Not tonight. You said what you had to say in the garage and on twelve pages. Tonight you listen."

"All right."

"I'm going to tell you what it was like."

He went very still.

"The first life," I said. "I wasn't thinking about Warner when it happened. I was thinking I'd forgotten to take the chicken out of the freezer."

His mouth moved, and he shut it again.

"I'd signed the papers that morning and walked until dark. I wanted tea, and a bath, and a day where nobody said my name. I was crossing with my bag, and I remember being glad that the rain had eased."

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