Chapter 9
I stop waiting.
That’s new.
Time fades into something steadier. Anger. Clarity.
I don’t answer his texts. Don’t check the street for his car.
He survives in memory only. In letters I don’t reread.
I feel it all beginning to reframe itself.
I wasn’t asking him to choose me.
I was asking him to choose himself.
And he didn’t.
Two weeks pass.
Then three.
Then a knock.
I open the door.
Josh stands there with a bag. Just one. No uniform. No badge.
I try to take it all in.
He breathes deep and speaks, “I left.”
“They told me I’d regret it,” he continues. “They said I’d come back.”
My heart pounds.
“And?” I ask.
He looks at me. Fully. Finally.
“I didn’t. I’m here. I choose you”
