My Ex-Husband
“Annie!” called out a voice behind mea voice so achingly familiar that my heart skipped a beat.
I flinched, pulled my shoulders up, and hurried along the pavement, not daring to turn around.
“Annie, will you just stop! It’s got to be you!”
I quickened my pace, but then a man’s handgentle but insistentcaught my shoulder.
“Annie, what’s gotten into you? Have you gone deaf or something? It’s me, Richard.”
Gathering my courage, I spun around, and stared at him in disbelief, whispering, “Oh God, Richard I thought I was hearing things. It cant be This isnt possible…”
“Whats not possible?” My ex-husband grinned at me with that same spirited smile he wore in his youth. “Dont I have the right to come back to my hometown?”
“Back from where?” I stammered, still confused. “But you were dead. Thats what I was told.”
“Dead?” Richards mouth twisted at the suggestion. “Me?”
“Yes. Six months after we divorcedand you moved to Liverpoolyour mate told me youd…,” I paused, unable to finish, but went on. “He said you drank yourself to death and were found under a bridge.”
“Who told you such rubbish?”
“It was Johnson. Your best friend. After you left, he started hanging around, making advances. I quickly put a stop to that. And then he told me about you.”
“The cheek!” Richard burst out laughing. “So he wasnt joking when we said our goodbyes.”
“What do you mean, joking?”
“Oh, he said, Now youve ditched Annie, I suppose Ill pick up where you left off. Seemed like a joke, but he never called me since. And back then, we didnt have all these social networks, so it was just letters and the home phone. I wrote him my new address when I first rented a flat. Never heard from him after that. Dont even know where he is or what happened.”
“Hes dead,” I shrugged, “Been gone for years now. They buried him five years ago.”
“Blimey…” Richards face turned serious. “Dead He couldve had a few good years left in him. Well,” and he smiled again, “How many years has it been since our divorce? Yet you havent changed a bit. Still gorgeous.”
“Oh, stop it,” I laughed, waving him off, “Just ordinary me.”
“I heard you remarried,” Richard said warmly, his eyes softening as if he couldnt stop admiring me. “Children, too. Two, I think?”
“Two,” I nodded. “Both grown now, flown the nest. Im a grandmatwice over!”
“Good heavens! And your husband, hows he doing?”
“He’s doing just fine,” I smirked, “But with another family now. Im a free woman.”
“Is that so,” Richard nodded thoughtfully. “Were such fools, us men. Always searching for something new, and all the while, everything we truly need is right beside us, isnt it?”
“And what brought you back?” I asked. “Business, or?”
“Im home for good, Annie. For good.” He sighed heavily. “My wife passed away not long ago, and I decided it was time to return. Back to my roots. Truth is, I felt suffocated up theredoctors say the climate doesnt suit me anymore. Age and all that. My wife had the same problems, actually. Asthma. I tried convincing her to move, just sensed we needed a change. But she was Liverpool born and bred, couldnt imagine a day away from her city. And,” Richards eyes glistened with unshed tears, “Well, here I amwandering the streets of my youth, taking it all in, wondering which area I should settle in. So much has changed in thirty years. Maybe you could give me some advicewhere should I lay down roots?”
“Where are you staying now?” I asked.
“At a hotel, where else?”
“What about family?”
“You know me,” he grimaced, “I hate being a burden. They have their own lives. Id only be in the way. Thats not right. Not for a grown man.”
“Would you like to stay at mine?” I blurted out, startled by my own offer, so I quickly added, “As a lodger, I mean.”
Richard looked momentarily flustered, then sighed. “Id be tempted, Annie, but I just cant. Guilty conscience and all that.”
“What guilt?” I asked, puzzled.
“The obvious kind,” Richard shrugged. “I did leave you thirty years ago. Ill always feel guilty.”
“Dont be daft,” I smiled oddly. “I made you leave. Im the guilty one, really. Remember what I said that evening? Any man would have left after hearing that.”
“I dont remember you saying anything that bad,” Richard insisted. “I only remember what I did.”
“What do you remember?”
“I remember foolishly losing my temper, packing in a hurry, storming out into the night. Of course I regretted itbut it was too late.”
“I was actually pleased when you left,” I laughed. “Thought Id start afresh and I did and later, I regretted it.”
“Really?” Richard asked shyly. “So you dont bear a grudge?”
“Of course not.” I looked at him fondly, my heart suddenly lightalmost as if we were young again. “Still the same old Richardjust a touch more grey. Come on, move in with me. Tonight. Ive a spare room just for you. Better than eating dreadful hotel food, isnt it? You may be my ex-husband, but youre still family in a way.”
“And I wont be a nuisance?”
“If you were, would I have asked? The evenings are so cheerful by myself, Im tempted to howl.”
“Well, in that case” Richard timidly took my hand. “Shall we fetch my suitcase from the hotel?”
“The same one you left with all those years ago?”
We both burst out laughing and strolled off along the pavement, feeling as though wed never been apart.
Today, I learned something preciousthat sometimes, even after years apart and all the mistakes, what you need might be there, quietly waiting, right where you started.
