The Question in the Rain
Chapter 18 - The Question in the Rain
It was raining when Nathan arrived.
Claire stood beneath the porch light.
“You’re soaked.”
“I know.”
“Do you own an umbrella?”
“Several.”
She laughed.
Nathan did not.
He looked terrified.
“I need to tell you something.”
Claire’s smile disappeared.
Nathan stepped closer.
“I don’t want the life we lost.”
She stared at him.
He continued.
“Because we can’t have it.”
Claire’s eyes filled with tears.
“I want the life we can build now.”
Nathan did not propose.
He did not produce a ring.
He simply asked one question.
“Can I take you to dinner?”
Claire laughed through her tears.
“After everything, that’s your big speech?”
“I had a longer one.”
“What happened?”
“I forgot it when you opened the door.”
Claire looked at the man she had spent six years believing abandoned her.
He was not innocent.
Neither was she.
Neither of them could return to twenty-eight years old.
But perhaps love was not about returning.
“Dinner,” Claire said.
Nathan smiled.
“Dinner.”
Behind her, Ethan shouted from the hallway.
“Is Dad staying?”
Claire closed her eyes.
May you like
Nathan laughed.
Apparently, privacy would not be part of their second chance.
