“How do you feel about that?”
“Fine,” he replied without hesitation.
She didn’t sense any doubt or regret, but she needed to make sure. “You’re totally fine with that?”
He shrugged. “They’re better suited for each other.”
Penny hoped she wasn’t pushing too much. “Was he the reason for the divorce?”
He sighed. “Technically, Mabel was right. My wife met someone, except the person she met was someone she met twenty years ago.”
“I’m sorry. That’s rough.”
“Finding out about them hurt —a lot.”
“How did you find out?”
“I didn’t know at first. They were discreet. But then one of her friends told one of my friends, and he told me. When I asked her if it was true, she said it was. I moved out and several months later, after a few rounds of will-we-or-won’t-we-get-back-together, we agreed to divorce.”
“That must have been difficult.”
“It was, especially at first. But I’m okay with it now. It took time for me to accept the truth of our marriage.”
“Which is?”
He took a deep breath. “She and I should not have gotten married. I was meant to be the boyfriend she had before she went back to her first love.”
“A final fling before she settled down?”
He nodded.
“How do you feel about that?”
“I’m okay with it now. The tension, the hurt, the resentment have faded. Our connection was real, but we weren’t right for each other. Not for the long term.”
“Do you regret marrying her?”
“I regret things I said to her, and things I didn’t say to her, when the marriage was unraveling. But marrying her —no, no regrets.”
“Is this where the goal of learning from your mistakes comes from?”
His eyes took on a shine. “Very much so.”
Penny’s heart thumped as she considered her next question. She wanted to ask —but what if the answer wasn’t what she wanted to hear?
“So,” she said, summoning her courage. “Are you over her?”
He blinked back emotion, his gaze fixed on her. “A few months ago, I’m not sure I could have given you a clear answer.”
“But now?”
“Now,” he said, his dark eyes intense with feeling, “I know I’m ready to look forward, not back.”
CHAPTER 19
The next morning, as Penny stared at her bathroom mirror in her snug-but-cozy apartment, ready to face what was undoubtedly going to be a very busy day, she found herself replaying the conversation she’d had with Daniel at the cafe. Finishing the tree and filming the videos for Eva hadn’t taken a lot of time, and though Penny would have been happy to linger,the fast-approaching snow and Holly’s concern about Daniel driving over an icy patch on the orchard road had led to her suggesting they call it a night.
Daniel had agreed, though he’d seemed reluctant about letting their day come to an end.
