Where did you get that ring

dinner next weekend? Only if you want to come.

I smiled.

Only if you want to.

Those five words would have saved me years of pain if they had arrived earlier.

But they had arrived now.

And now, I knew how to answer honestly.

Yes. I’d like that.

Then I set the phone down, opened my balcony door, and stepped into the morning light.

No apology to make.

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