“I still made the decision without you.”
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
“And you apologized. And you opened every record. And we’re changing how we handle things.”
He stared at the check.
“So we’re done?”
“With the money issue?”
“Yes.”
I thought about seven years of believing every problem could be prevented if I sent enough money every January.
“No,” I said. “We’re doing something better than being done.”
“What?”
“We’re learning.”
Calvin smiled.
“I can live with that.”
There remained one conversation he and Melissa needed to have without me.
They had it shortly before Christmas.
Afterward, Calvin came to the market alone.
He stood by the produce counter pretending to inspect apples.
“How did it go?” I asked.
He picked up one apple.
“Do you charge this much because they’re magical?”
“Changing the subject already?”
He returned the apple.
“We’re not going back to the old marriage.”
