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She frowned. “Why not?”
He sighed. “I wasn’t a very good husband. I mean, I tried to love her in the beginning, but she always wanted me working or making money, and then I just started focusing on that and less on her.”
“That doesn’t mean she can cheat on you, though.”
“In my father’s eyes, that’s why it’s okay that she did. And sometimes . . . I believe him. I wasn’t great to her in the end because I just shut down. I barely talked to her and I was never home. So, it almost makes sense why she would want to leave.”
“But why did you shut down?” she asked. “There has to be a reason.”
He took a moment to think about it. “Because she only cared about how she looked to the world. We would go on a hike and none of it would be spent hiking, just posing for the perfect picture. Or when we got our apartment, she wanted it to look perfect, and I never got a say in it. I felt like I was just the person funding the life she wanted. But there was nothing else there.”
“You ran yourself until you shut down. Kind of like I did last night.”
Daniel sighed. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I did.”
“And when that happened to me, you were there for me. But when you did that to her, she left. And that’s wrong. We all get tired. Maybe not as intensely as I did, or as you did, but it should be a two-way street. What did she do for you that helped you?”
“I . . . I can’t think of anything.”
Amelia waved her hand, as if it absolved everything. “You weren’t happy. Why didn’t you leave?”
“I don’t think I knew I had the option. I mean, obviously, I wasn’t happy, but it looked like I was, and I was pretending that I was, so I thought I had no reason to feel like I did and that I was actually happy.”
“I get that, but you definitely did have a reason. I’m sorry that happened.”
He looked down. “I just have to get through this reveal that they’re planning, and then . . . I don’t know. I don’t think I can ever marry someone again if it ends up this way.”
“You know, not everyone is going to be like her,” she said softly. “It’s entirely possible you could find someone else and actually be happy.”
He looked at her. He wasn’t blind to his own feelings. He knew that she could easily be someone he could move on with.
But he doubted she wanted that in return. She’d made it clear that she was happy being alone. She didn’t need a partner, not in the way he was starting to see her.
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Don’t rush it. I mean, I’m going on year five of getting over someone, so take your time.”
Daniel wished she’d never had the ex that turned her away from love. He wished he had met her first.
“Do you want to go to the beach?” he asked. “I don’t think I can take thinking about it too much longer.”
“Sure,” she said, smiling. “I’m always up for a little distraction.”
She led him to the beach where he completely forgot about the phone call as they treaded into the surf.
The waves were taller than usual; they dumped cold water on them from the moment they got to waist level.
“This is freezing!” she yelped.
“I thought you liked to jump right in.”
“Not today I don’t.” She shrieked as another hit her, wetting her entire back. Daniel couldn’t help but laugh as half of her hair got wet.
He had turned his back on the waves—a rookie mistake. A wave crashed over him, soaking him far more than Amelia.
“That’s what you get,” she said, finally dropping her whole body in the water. “It’s rude to laugh at your girlfriend.”
“Not when she’s funny,” he replied. He shook the excess water out of his hair.
