Page 82 of Heartless
“It is. That’s why I invited you to join me and watch the sunrise this morning. Twenty-two years and I’ve never missed a sunrise on this beach.”
“That’s how long you’ve lived here?”
“Yep. Moved out here after my husband, Clyde, left me for a younger version of me.”
“What?” I say, jerking my head from the dazzling golds and reds magnifying the sky.
“Yes. She looks just like I did at her age. Looks more like me than Matt ever did.”
“I’m assuming he has his father’s looks.”
“Just as dashing, charming, and handsome as he is. But he’s a good man,” she says as if I’d inquired.
Smiling, I say, “Well, that works out perfectly for some lucky young lady. As for me, I’m not in the market.”
“Mm. Divorced,” she asks, glancing at my finger where there’s a tan line from where my wedding band used to be.
“In the process.”
“It can be a difficult time. I would have done anything to save my marriage if I could have, but he just didn’t want me.”
“Mm. Same here.”
We rock silently as the brilliant sun continues to rise and takes over the night sky.
“It’s going to be a scorcher today. I imagine there will be lots of people out in the water.”
After several more minutes of silence, I finally broke it with something that had been plaguing me since the first time that I saw her.
“I wasn’t going to do it. That first day, you know?”
“Never said you were. Just wanted to make sure that you were aware that those waters have a powerful lure and can be a bit misleading.”
I nod. “I can see that.”
“Especially when someone is weighed down by life’s troubles.”
“I can see that too.”
“Good. Just so you know.”
We rock some more in silence.
“How do you know that your husband didn’t want you, if you don’t mind me asking? Was it because he cheated?”
“No, it wasn’t that alone. Some men cheat, and others don’t. Some men love their wives, and others don’t. A man can cheat and still love his wife, just like a man can be faithful and still hate her. He told me, ‘Claire, I don’t want you anymore. I’mnot happy, and I don’t love you.’ It was just as simple as that. Nothing too complicated or fancy. Besides, he’d made sure that I felt it long before he said it.”
“That was cruel.”
Shrugging, “I guess you could say that it was. But it was beautiful and honest.”
“How so?”
“Beautiful because he didn’t keep me tied to him when he knew that he didn’t want me. He let me go free so that I could discover the beauty that life held for me and discover myself. He didn’t lie to me but was honest about his feelings so that I wasn’t living a lie. He could have done a lot worse and kept me tied to him in a loveless marriage.”
“Wow. You must have been mature about the whole matter. Not sure I could have.”
“I wasn’t either. That revelation came with time. At the time, I was devastated. My entire world was falling into shambles, and we had a teenage son who was watching both our actions. I had a choice to make. Let him see the weakness in me and how broken I was by his father’s actions, or allow him to see my strength and how I could rise above my limitations and still pursue greatness.”