CHAPTER SIXTEEN B — THE CONVERSATION WITHOUT A STAGE
Hannah returned to the house five days later to collect clothes, books, and a box of family photographs.
Andrew had asked Claire to remain nearby in case the conversation became overwhelming.
Hannah arrived alone in a small rental car.
She looked tired, but her voice was steady.
“I won’t take long,” she said.
Andrew opened the door.
“Your things are in the guest room.”
She walked past the kitchen and stopped when she saw the paint samples on the counter.
“You kept those,” she said.
“They arrived after I got home,” Andrew answered.
“I didn’t know whether to return them.”
Hannah touched the edge of one card.
“I really did want to paint the kitchen,” she said.
Andrew looked at her.
“I believe you.
”
She seemed surprised.
“Then why do you look so angry?”
“Because wanting to paint a kitchen doesn’t make the rest of what you did disappear,” he said.
“I don’t need you to prove every happy moment was false.”
“I need you to understand that I trusted you during those moments.”
Hannah nodded.
They carried her boxes to the front hallway without speaking.
When the last bag was beside the door, Hannah turned toward him.
“I’ve made the calls,” she said.
“I told Mrs. Daley, Simon, Denise, Maribel, and Ethan’s sister that the separation wasn’t mutual.”
“Thank you for correcting it,” Andrew answered.
“Some of them were angry.”
“They had reason to be.”
“I know.”
Hannah sat on the stairs.
“I kept thinking that once I said I wanted to leave,
everything before it would become meaningless.”
Andrew leaned against the wall.
“Some things were meaningful,” he replied.
“They don’t obligate us to stay married forever.”
“Then why couldn’t I just tell you?”
“I can’t answer that for you,” Andrew said.
“You can tell me what you were afraid of, but you still have to own the choices you made.”
Hannah looked at the open front door.
“I was afraid you’d say you hadn’t noticed anything wrong.”
“I probably would have,” Andrew said.
“I was happy enough that I didn’t realize you were not.”
“That would have made me feel cruel.”
“I would rather have heard something cruel and true,” he answered.
Hannah’s eyes filled with tears.
“I understand that now.”
Andrew waited for a moment.
“We should talk about practical arrangements next week,” he said.
“I don’t want to make decisions while we’re both upset.”
“Agreed,” she replied.
She lifted the boxes and walked toward the rental car.
Andrew helped place the heaviest one in the trunk.
When he shut the lid, Hannah looked at him.
“Do you think we’ll ever be friends?”
He considered the question without rushing.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“I think it would be dishonest to promise you that now.”
Hannah nodded once.
She got into the car and drove away.
Andrew watched until she turned the corner.
Then he went back inside and moved the paint samples from the counter to a drawer.
He wasn’t ready to decide the color of the kitchen.
For once, he was content to leave a decision unfinished.
