Chapter 7 - CLAIRE COMES HOME
Claire arrived in Newport on a rainy Thursday afternoon.
Amy heard footsteps on the stairs before the apartment door opened.
Then her best friend stood there with a suitcase, wet hair, and tears already filling her eyes.
“You look terrible.”
Amy laughed.
“So do you.”
Claire dropped the suitcase and hugged her.
Amy finally cried.
Not the quiet tears she had allowed herself at night.
Not the controlled tears she wiped away before Ruth came upstairs.
She cried like someone who had been holding a door shut for years and had finally let it open.
Claire held her without trying to fix anything.
When Amy finally pulled away, Claire looked at her stomach.
“Seventeen weeks?”
“Almost nineteen now.”
Claire placed a hand over her mouth.
“You were going to surprise him.”
Amy nodded.
Claire’s eyes hardened.
“I will personally throw Daniel into the Pacific.”
Amy laughed again.
“I missed you.”
They spent the evening eating takeout on the floor.
Amy told her everything.
Chicago.
The leaked stories.
Daniel firing Vanessa.
The boundaries.
His apologies.
His changed schedule.
Claire listened carefully.
Then she asked the question nobody else had.
“Do you want him back?”
Amy stared at the carton in her hands.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s allowed.”
“I still love him.”
“That’s also allowed.”
Amy looked frustrated.
“I wish I hated him.”
Claire shook her head.
“No, you don’t.”
“It would be easier.”
“Maybe.”
Claire leaned against the sofa.
“But easy and honest aren’t the same thing.”
Amy looked toward the harbor.
“I don’t know who I am without being Mrs. Daniel Harrison.”
Claire frowned.
“You were Amy Bennett for twenty-six years before you met him.”
Amy smiled faintly.
“I forgot her.”
“Then find her.”
The next morning, Claire dragged Amy downstairs to the bookstore.
Ruth handed Amy an apron.
“What’s this?”
“You need something to do besides reading articles about yourself.”
Amy looked around.
“You want me to work here?”
“I want you to alphabetize the fiction shelves.”
Amy smiled.
“I haven’t had a job interview.”
“This is Oregon.”
Ruth pointed toward three boxes of books.
“We’re reckless.”
For the next four hours, Amy shelved novels.
She answered questions from tourists.
She made change at the register.
She recommended a mystery novel to an elderly man.
Nobody cared about Harrison Freight Systems.
Nobody asked about Vanessa.
Nobody looked for her wedding ring.
At noon, Amy realized she had gone nearly three hours without thinking about Daniel.
The discovery felt like sunlight.
That evening, her phone buzzed.
A message from Daniel.
I have an appointment with a therapist tomorrow.
Amy stared at it.
Another message appeared.
I’m not telling you because I expect anything.
I just thought you should know I finally listened.
Amy did not answer immediately.
May you like
Then she typed three words.
That’s a start.
