Page 69 of The Space He Left
"We'll start slow," she said finally. "Really slow. We'll need to find a couple's therapist we both feel comfortable with. Someone who can help us figure out if this is even possible."
I felt tears spring to my eyes. "Thank you for giving me a chance."
"Don't thank me yet," she said softly. "This is going to be hard. Harder than what we just went through tonight."
I stood to leave, knowing she needed space to process everything. But as I reached for my jacket, she called my name.
"Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"I loved you enough to marry you. I loved you enough to have your baby. I loved you enough to let you destroy my heart and still leave the door open for you to come back." Her voice was steady, but I could hear the vulnerability underneath. "Don't make me regret giving you this chance. Because I don't think I could survive it if you hurt me again."
The weight of her words settled over me. "I won't," I said, my voice rough with emotion. "Harps, I promise you on everything I hold sacred, I won't. I love you."
As I walked to my truck, I felt something I hadn't felt in almost a year: hope.
Harper was willing to try. After everything I'd done, after all the pain I'd caused, she was willing to see if we could rebuild what I'd destroyed.
I'd already wasted one chance at happiness with her. I wasn't going to waste another.
Chapter 24
Harper
The Wednesday after Emma’s birthday party felt heavier than any day in the last year. The raw, exhausting honesty of "The Talk" had left a strange silence in its wake. We had agreed to try, but neither of us knew what that actually meant. The co-parenting app on my phone, once a symbol of our rigid separation, now felt like a relic of a war that had just ended, though peace was far from declared.
No longer required to use the app, Jack had sent a text message:You mentioned family dinner on Wednesdays. Is tonight still okay? I can pick up takeout, whatever you and Emma feel like. Let me know what time works.
My fingers hovered over the keyboard. It was one thing to agree to this in the emotional aftermath of our conversation; it was another to actually do it. But I had promised him - and myself - that I would try.
Tonight is fine. Emma would love pizza. 6 PM.
His response was immediate:See you then.
At 5:55 PM, the doorbell rang. Not the familiar knock he’d used when he was just picking up Emma, but the formal chime of a guest. My heart gave a nervous flutter as I walked to the door, my palms suddenly damp. This felt bigger than just dinner. It felt like a new beginning. I opened the door to find him standing on the porch, two pizza boxes in hand, his expression a mixture of hope and profound uncertainty. He looked like he was waiting to be invited into his own life.
"Hi," he said, his voice a little rough.
"Hi," I replied, stepping back to let him in. "You're right on time."
"Dada!" Emma came toddling out of the living room, her face lighting up with a joy that was pure and uncomplicated. She didn't know about lawyers' letters or emotional affairs. She just knew her Dada was here.
"Hey, beautiful girl," Jack said, his whole face softening as he knelt to her level. "I brought your favorite pizza. With extra pineapple for your mama."
He looked up at me, a question in his eyes. "I got a salad for us, too. The one from The Green Leaf with the lemon vinaigrette you like."
The detail was so small, so Jack, that it caught me off guard. He remembered my favorite salad dressing. After everything, he still remembered. "Thank you," I said, taking the bag from him. "That was thoughtful."
Dinner was a study in awkward choreography. We sat at the kitchen table, the same table where we’d shared a thousand meals, but now it felt vast and unfamiliar. Emma, oblivious to the tension, chattered happily between bites of pizza, her babbling monologue filling the silence that stretched between us.
We focused on her, our conversations a safe, three-way triangle.
"Emma, did you tell Daddy about the big slide at the park today?" I asked.
"Slide! Whee!" she said, demonstrating with her hands.
"Wow," Jack said, his attention entirely on her. "Were you brave? Did you go all by yourself?"
