“What about you?” she asked.
“I married Heather. We had Jonah and Claire. Good kids. The marriage… it worked until it didn’t.”
“What about you?”
“Christmas was always the hardest,” I said. “That’s when I’d think about you the most.”
“Me too,” she whispered.
There was a pause, long and heavy.
I reached across the table, fingers barely brushing hers.
“Who’s the man in your profile picture?” I finally asked, afraid of the answer.
She chuckled. “My cousin, Evan. We work together at the museum. He’s married to a wonderful man named Leo.”
I laughed out loud, the tension in my shoulders melting all at once!
“Well, I’m glad I asked,” I said.
“I was hoping you would.”
I leaned forward, heart pounding.
“Sue… would you ever consider giving us another shot? Even now. Even at this age. Maybe especially now — because now we know what we want.”
She stared at me for a moment.
“I thought you’d never ask,” she said.
That’s how it started again.
She invited me to her house for Christmas Eve. I met her daughter. She met my kids a few months later. Everyone got along better than I could have imagined.
This past year has felt like stepping back into a life I thought I’d lost — but with fresh eyes. Wiser ones.
We walk together now — literally. Every Saturday morning, we pick a new trail, bring coffee in thermoses, and walk side by side.
We talk about everything!
The lost years, our children, scars, and our hopes.
Wiser ones.
Sometimes she looks at me and says, “Can you believe we found each other again?”
And every time, I say, “I never stopped believing.”
This spring, we’re getting married.
We want a small ceremony. Just family and a few close friends. She wants to wear blue. I’ll be in gray.
Because sometimes life doesn’t forget what we’re meant to finish. It just waits until we’re finally ready.
I’ll be in gray.
