The Life I Was Leaving Behind
The cold Boston air hit my face the moment I stepped outside.
For the first time that morning, I allowed myself to breathe deeply.
It was not the dramatic breath of someone celebrating a victory.
It was the exhausted breath of someone who had finally reached the other side of something she had once been terrified to face.
Miles stayed close beside me, still holding my hand.
Annie adjusted the strap of her backpack and looked toward the black vehicle waiting at the curb.
I looked back only once.
Through the glass doors, Carter was still standing inside.
The man who had spent the morning explaining why there was nothing left to split was now staring after us as though he had only just realized that losing a marriage was not the same thing as controlling the ending.
I turned away.
The condo keys were gone from my handbag.
The paperwork was signed.
The children were with me.
And the life Carter believed he had neatly erased was already behind us.
I did not know what the next chapter would look like.
I only knew it would be ours.
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