CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
NORA
Month Ten
The foundation anniversary fills the community rink with children, donors, and too many balloons.
One year has not passed since the leak, but almost. The building feels different from the night of the storm. New flooring. Repaired roof. A reading room where the unused office once stood.
Theo has obtained improved snacks through democratic pressure.
Rhett and I open the event together.
This time, no one asks who speaks first. We planned the remarks in advance. I discuss programs. He discusses finances. A teenage player named Keisha announces the new girls' travel grant.
Afterward, we skate with families.
A little girl notices the ring missing from my hand.
"Are you still divorced?" she asks.
Her father apologizes.
I smile. "Yes."
"But you hold hands."
"Divorced people can choose each other again."
"Are you getting married?"
Rhett crouches beside us. "That is classified information."
She narrows her eyes. "You don't know."
"Correct."
"My mom says boys don't know anything."
"Your mother has strong evidence."
Later, I watch Rhett help Mr. Alvarez stack chairs. No cameras. No announcement. He has done this every week while I was away and every week since I returned.
Change has become boring.
That is how I know it may be real.
At sunset, we sit alone in the stands.
"The first time I came here after the leak," I say, "I thought thirty days was something to survive."
"I counted every one."
"I know."
He looks at the empty ice. "Do you regret dating me?"
"No."
"Do you trust me?"
The answer is no longer simple.
"I trust you to tell the truth more often. I trust you to repair after mistakes. I trust that my no will remain mine. I do not trust that we will never hurt each other."
"Neither do I."
"That used to frighten me."
"And now?"
"Now I think safety may be knowing harm will not be denied."
He takes my hand.
The rink lights reflect in the ice like open doors.