His Number Changed So I Changed My Life Chapter 34
My mother stood and walked over to the low cabinet where the phone was charging.
She picked up her cell phone and, in front of both of us, deleted my father’s number.
Years ago, she had been the one to ask me to keep that number.
Now, she was the one deleting it first.
“If there’s a medical emergency, the hospital will contact Charlotte,” my mother said. “My lawyer and my doctors all have her number as well.”
“Do you really have to punish me like this?”
I looked at the number above my father’s head, which was larger than it had once been.
“This isn’t a punishment.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s other people making their own choices, long after you made yours.”
He was silent for a long time.
Before he left, he finally apologized to my mother.
No excuses. No buts.
My mother accepted his apology, but she didn’t ask him to stay.
After the door closed, she leaned against the wall, her hands trembling slightly.
I rushed to support her.
“Does your chest hurt?”
“No,” she said. “It just took me a very long time to say all of that.”
I helped her sit down and checked her blood pressure.
The numbers were normal.
She watched me put the monitor away, then suddenly smiled.
“I used to think that as long as no one ripped the problem open, the family would still be there.”
“I used to think that, too.”
That was why I had once looked at the 1 above Parker’s head and believed that number could protect our marriage.
When it became a 2, I finally understood that nothing can force someone to keep choosing you.
My mother poured the cold tea down the sink.
“Are we still going to Italy?”
“We are.”
“You’re not allowed to cancel for work.”
I promised.
Two days later, I received Austin’s wedding invitation.
At the bottom was a handwritten note from him.
*This time, I hope you’ll come and witness the right choice.*