When he finally pulled back, I reached up and touched his face. His cheek. His jaw. The little scar on his chin from the softball game.
I leaned in close. Close enough that the blur got a tiny bit sharper.
“You have more wrinkles than I remember,” I said.
He laughed out loud.
“Seriously? That’s the first thing?”
“And I think your hair’s gotten thinner. Right here.” I touched the top of his forehead.
“Sutton,” he said, “I have missed your sense of humor so much. But I could have waited a little longer for that part.”
And for the first time in months, we laughed together. Really laughed. On the living room floor, with divorce papers on the coffee table and a packed suitcase two feet away.
It felt like opening a window in a house that had been shut up all winter.
After a while, his face turned serious again.
“There’s something else,” he said. “I want you to read it. The whole thing.”
He reached over and picked up the letter to Rebecca from where I’d dropped it.
“I wrote this for my next appointment,” he said. “It’s Thursday. She asked me to write down where I actually am. Not where I think I should be. Where I really am.”
I hesitated.
“You don’t have to,” he said. “But I want you to. I don’t want there to be one more thing in this house you don’t know.”
I took it from him.
I held up my phone, opened the magnifier, and found the place where I’d stopped that morning.
“Rebecca, I’ve been thinking about everything we discussed, and I can’t keep pretending that my marriage is fine.”
I kept going.
He wrote about our arguments. He wrote about the glass of water. He wrote about how exhausted he was. How scared he was of losing his patience. How guilty he felt every time he did.
He wrote about the warning at work. About sitting in the parking lot. About lying awake at three in the morning listening to me breathe and wondering if he was the right person to take care of me.
And then I reached a paragraph that made my eyes fill up all over again.
Lila Hart is a dedicated Digital Archivist and Research Specialist with a keen eye for preserving and curating meaningful content. At TheArchivists, she specializes in organizing and managing digital archives, ensuring that valuable stories and historical moments are accessible for generations to come.
Lila earned her degree in History and Archival Studies from the University of Edinburgh, where she cultivated her passion for documenting the past and preserving cultural heritage. Her expertise lies in combining traditional archival techniques with modern digital tools, allowing her to create comprehensive and engaging collections that resonate with audiences worldwide.
At TheArchivists, Lila is known for her meticulous attention to detail and her ability to uncover hidden gems within extensive archives. Her work is praised for its depth, authenticity, and contribution to the preservation of knowledge in the digital age.
Driven by a commitment to preserving stories that matter, Lila is passionate about exploring the intersection of history and technology. Her goal is to ensure that every piece of content she handles reflects the richness of human experiences and remains a source of inspiration for years to come.