“I understand.”
“Then show me.”
Over the following weeks, Daniel began visiting regularly.
Sometimes he came for coffee.
Once, he repaired a cabinet door that had been crooked for years.
Jessica remained angry.
She still believed I had ruined her wedding.
One afternoon, Daniel told me she’d demanded he stop visiting until I apologized.
“What did you say?”
“That she can decide whether she wants to see you. But she can’t decide whether I do.”
It wasn’t a grand speech.
It was a choice he’d made when nobody was watching.
That mattered more.
A few Sundays later, I took my blue dress from the closet.
I fastened the pearl buttons and put on my good shoes.
When Daniel arrived to drive me to church, he stopped in the doorway.
“Mom. That’s the dress.”
“Yes.”
He smiled sadly.
“You look beautiful.”
“You said that before.”
“I know.”
I picked up my purse.
