Chapter 26 - Evelyn makes her choice
A year had not passed; about nine months after Maude’s conviction.
Evelyn and I had rebuilt communication.
Not marriage.
Then she asked:
“If Maude had never done this, do you think we would still be together?”
“I don’t know.”
She smiled sadly.
“Good answer.”
The old Merrick would have said yes because certainty sounds strong.
Truth was stronger.
Seven years changes people.
We had loved each other.
We might again.
But not by pretending nothing happened.
Then she said:
“I want to move closer.”
“For Finley?”
“For me too.”
She rented a house twenty minutes from mine.
Not inside estate.
Not dependent on me.
We agreed on parenting schedule.
Finley would spend increasing time with me.
School remained stable.
No one uprooted him to prove family restoration.
Then she handed me something.
Our old wedding photograph.
The same one Finley carried.
“I made copies.”
“Why?”
“Because he nearly destroyed the original folding it into his pocket.”
May you like
Reasonable.
I smiled.
