Chapter 19

 

 

 

 

It was dinner. Just dinner. A ritual I’d shared with Josh for years. Tonight was different though. It felt different. I felt different. New and improved and brave, like someone had cracked open my shell, exposing everything beneath.

Josh walked into the house, closed the door, and looked at me. Really looked at me, taking me in. I’d ditched the casual clothes for dark, tight, skinny jeans and a fitted, black, low-cut shirt. I’d also ditched the natural makeup for a thin, pretty layer of color. I still felt like me, and I still looked like me, just a shinier, updated version of the woman I was before.

“You look nice,” he said. “Really nice. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with eye makeup on before.”

I smiled, noticing he’d purchased a new shirt and new pants for the occasion. “You look nice too.”

He hugged me, pulling me into him. He leaned down, showering my neck in kisses, something he hadn’t done in a long time. “Mmm ... you smell good.”

Another small change I’d hoped he would notice.

I pointed to the plates on the table, showing him what I’d cooked—his favorite dish—grilled flank steak with mashed potatoes. We walked together to the table, sat down.

“I wanted to say I’m sorry,” I said.

      “No, Callie. I’m sorry. I was so stupid. I should have never left the way I did. I assumed I couldn’t talk to you about how I was feeling, or that you wouldn’t care, and I was wrong. Yesterday I realized if I had been open with you, we could have avoided all this.”

      “Maybe. I don’t know if I would have been able to handle it though. I needed time to see what I’d been doing. I needed to make a change. Changes I should have made long ago.”

      “You don’t need to change for me.”

      “You’re wrong. I do need to change. Not for you though. For me. For us. For our relationship. I need to be more open with you. I need to tell you how I’m feeling and not keep everything so closed in. I need to trust you more.”

      He reached out, grabbed my hand, rubbing his thumb along my palm. “I want to try again. I want to rebuild what we had when we first got married. Do you want to try with me?”

      A single tear trickled down my cheek. He reached out, wiping it away.

“I just want you back, Josh. I want you here, with me, in our house. I want to be together again.”

      He rose from his chair, reached out a hand to me. I took it, stood up. In his eyes I saw the passion and fire I’d been missing.

      Hand in hand, we walked upstairs and into the bedroom. He closed the door behind us.  “I love you, Callie. I never want us to be apart again.”

“And I love you. I’ve always loved you, Josh. And I always will.”

 

THE END

 

 

 

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