PART 3
Later, after Marco helped with her résumé, she stood in front of the mirror.

“I still don’t feel ready.”

Marco opened his mouth.

I spoke first.

“Then go scared.”

She turned toward me.

“What?”

“You don’t have to stop being frightened before you’re allowed to begin.”

She considered that.

Marco looked at me differently.

Not impressed.

Seen.

That evening, we went home.

The anniversary pasta was still sitting in the refrigerator.

Marco reached for his keys.

I assumed he planned to take me somewhere.

Instead, he opened the fridge.

“Can I reheat this?”

“You better,” I muttered. “I spent 40 minutes on that sauce.”

He smiled.

The dessert had collapsed overnight.

The pasta was softer than it should have been.

Marco took a bite.

“This is really good.”

“It was better yesterday.”

He winced.

“Fair.”

We ate quietly for a while.

Then I said,

“I can forgive dinner getting cold.”

Marco looked up.

“I don’t know how to forgive realizing I had to book an appointment to learn who my husband is.”

He nodded.

No defense.

No dramatic promise that he would never work late again.

I didn’t want one.

His work mattered.

So did our marriage.

“I won’t decide alone anymore that you can always wait,” he said.

That was closer.

His phone buzzed.

We both looked at it.

Marco’s hand automatically moved toward the screen.

Then stopped.

He looked at me.

“It’s my client.”

“Interview tomorrow?”

He nodded.

“Can I take ten minutes?”

I glanced at the clock.

“Ten.”

Marco answered without leaving the table.

The woman on the phone was panicking.

I could hear only fragments.

Then Marco asked,

“What are you afraid they’ll ask?”

A pause.

“The 15-year gap?”

Another pause.

Marco smiled faintly.

“What have you been doing for 15 years?”

Silence.

Then he looked across the table at me.

I already knew what would come next.

Children.

Budgets.

Appointments.

Years of ordinary work finally being given names.

Marco reached across the table with his free hand.

I took it.

The work call was still happening.

Our marriage still had things to repair.

Nothing had magically disappeared.

But the food was warm.

Marco was home.

His hand remained in mine.

And for the first time in a long time, nobody at our table was waiting alone.