Silence.
Then:
“No.”
“Then you’re leaving.”
She started crying.
“But what if I’m overreacting?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“What if Malcolm really does care about me?”
“It still doesn’t matter.”
“What if Ethan was right?”
That question explained everything.
I finally understood why she hadn’t called her son.
She wasn’t afraid Ethan wouldn’t help.
She knew he would.
She was afraid he would rescue her and then spend the next ten years treating this mistake as evidence that she couldn’t trust herself.
“Diane, listen to me.”
“I’m listening.”
“You are allowed to choose something and then decide you don’t want it anymore.”
She was quiet.
“You don’t have to prove the first decision was correct by staying miserable.”
I heard her sniff.
“Can you leave the house without waking him?”
“Yes.”
“Pack your essentials. Passport, medication, wallet, phone charger.”
“My suitcase is almost packed already.”
