Chapter 20 - Dating My Ex-Wife
Six months after I found Sophie in the hospital hallway, I asked my ex-wife on a date.
She said no.
I stared at her.
“No?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because your invitation was terrible.”
I frowned.
“I asked if you wanted dinner.”
“You said, ‘My schedule is clear Friday at nineteen hundred.’”
“That is dinner time.”
“That is a briefing.”
I tried again.
“Sophie Parker, would you like to go on an actual date with me Friday night?”
She pretended to consider it.
“Where?”
“I thought I'd surprise you.”
“You have historically bad surprise instincts.”
“That is unfair.”
“You bought me a vacuum cleaner for our second anniversary.”
“You asked for one.”
“I said ours was broken.”
“Exactly.”
She laughed.
“Yes.”
I blinked.
“Yes?”
“Yes, I'll go.”
I spent more time preparing for that date than I had preparing for several promotion boards.
No uniform.
No expensive restaurant.
No dramatic gesture.
I took her to the diner where we had eaten on our third date.
The booth was still there.
The waitress wasn't.
Sophie ordered pancakes at seven in the evening.
I ordered a burger.
For the first hour, we avoided the past.
Then Sophie put down her fork.
“What happens if this doesn't work?”
I knew what she meant.
“You mean us?”
“Yes.”
I considered my answer.
“We tell the truth.”
“And?”
“We don't punish each other for it.”
She nodded.
“What happens if it does?”
I smiled.
“We tell the truth.”
She rolled her eyes.
“That is annoyingly healthy.”
“Therapy.”
“Show-off.”
We went on another date.
Then another.
There were no fireworks.
No cinematic moment when everything snapped back into place.
There were awkward pauses.
Arguments.
One terrible weekend when I worked through dinner without calling.
Sophie didn't speak to me for two hours.
The old Ethan would have retreated.
Instead, I drove to her apartment.
“I screwed up.”
“Yes.”
“I should have called.”
“Yes.”
“I wasn't avoiding you.”
“I know.”
“I'm sorry.”
She stared at me.
Then stepped aside.
“Come in.”
That was how trust returned.
Not through one enormous apology.
Through hundreds of small moments when I did the opposite of what I had done before.
Nine months after remission, Sophie came to my promotion ceremony.
When they pinned the new insignia on my uniform, I searched the crowd.
She stood beside Margaret.
She smiled.
Afterward, Sophie kissed me in front of half the command staff.
Captain Reese whistled.
I threatened to assign him weekend duty.
Sophie whispered, “Still hiding behind rank?”
I looked at her.
“Not anymore.”
That evening, she handed me a small box.
My heart jumped.
Inside was her wedding ring.
I stared at it.
“I thought you wanted it back.”
“I did.”
“What does this mean?”
May you like
She smiled.
“It means I'm ready to talk about what comes next.”
