She looked down at the dog. "Your chaperone?" Tom sighed. "Un rules!" Murphy sat proudly between them.
Later, Anna and Tom sat at the kitchen table with two glasses of iced tea. The record turned quietly in the other room. Anna traced the condensation on her glass. I was engaged once. Tom did not react too quickly.
She appreciated that. I know Beth mentioned it, she continued. Probably not the details. She didn't. Anna looked toward the window.
He didn't cheat. He didn't lie about another woman. He just wasn't sure. Tom waited. He told me 3 weeks before the wedding that he'd been waiting for certainty for months.
Her voice stayed even. That was the part that got me. I was planning a future while he was deciding whether he wanted one. Tom looked down. So now I leave early.
Anna smiled faintly. I prefer efficient emotional risk management. That sounds expensive. It is. The joke faded.
Anna exhaled. If I give someone enough time to decide whether they want me, they might decide they don't. Tom nodded. Margaret and I were married 28 years. Anna glanced at him.
We were certain about each other maybe 70% of the time. She laughed softly. Tom smiled. There were days she was tired of me. Days I was tired of her.
Days we went to bed angry. Days we barely spoke because life got heavy. What kept you together? Tom thought about it. We kept coming back to the conversation.
No speech, no lesson, just that. The music ended. The needle clicked softly in the other room. Anna stood to collect the glasses. Tom stood too.
They reached for the same one. Their fingers touched. Neither moved away. Anna looked up. Tom was close enough now that she could see the silver at his temples.
He leaned in slightly. So did she. Then Anna stopped. Beth. Tom closed his eyes for half a second.
Right. Anna stepped back. I won't do this behind her back. Neither will I. They stood there awkward and honest.
Tom nodded toward Anna's phone. We tell her. Anna nodded before anything else. The next morning, before either of them could make the call, Anna's phone buzzed. Beth had changed her flight.