CHAPTER 27
Season
The sky is fading into evening as I drive.
The road stretches ahead of me in long gray lines while the wind carries the first breath of autumn through the open window.
Leaves drift down from the trees slowly.
Like the world itself is letting go of something.
One leaf tumbles across the windshield before the wind lifts it away again.
I watch them fall along the road. Golden, brown.
Fading from the green they once were and for the first time, the sight doesn’t make me feel sad.
Because fall was never meant to be the end of things.
It’s the moment the tree lets go of what it can’t carry anymore.
So something new can grow when the next season comes.
Maybe life works the same way, maybe some parts of us have to fall away before we understand who we are becoming.
By the time I pull into the driveway, the sky has darkened. The house looks the same as it always has but something inside me feels different, lighter. I step out of the car and close the door gently behind me. Inside, the house is dim.
Still.
“Dominic?” I call softly.
No answer.
I move through the hallway, the familiar creak of the floor beneath my feet grounding me.
The back door is slightly open. Cool evening air drifts in as I push it open and step outside.
Dominic is sitting on one of the wooden chairs in the backyard.
Facing the old oak tree near the fence. The same tree that’s been there since we moved into this house.
Its leaves are starting to turn now, scattered gold among the green. I walk toward him slowly. Something deep in my gut whispers a quiet truth. This isn’t finished yet. The truth still needs to come out.
And I’m waiting for him to tell me.
I sit down in the chair beside him. For a moment we just watch the tree together. The wind moves softly through its branches.
Dominic exhales.
“You remember when Era — when you tried to hang that ridiculous swing from that tree?” he says.
I glance at him.
He gives a faint smile.
“You insisted it would be romantic.” A small laugh escapes him. “The branch snapped in about ten seconds.” I smile despite myself. “And you blamed me for tying the knot wrong.” Dominic shakes his head. “I tied it exactly the way you told me to.”
The silence returns.
But this one feels different. Like we both know where the conversation is going. Dominic stares at the tree for a long time.
Then he finally speaks. “I was upset that night.”
His voice is strained. “I wanted to tell you everything.”
He drags a hand down his face. “But every time I tried… I stopped myself.”
His jaw stiffens. “Watching you not know was tearing me apart.”
He exhales slowly.
“The night we left the restaurant. After the fight, after I left the house.” He swallows. “I went straight to the store and got a bottle. I had Vodka in the car.”
A quiet ache settles inside me.
“I kept drinking,” he admits quietly. “Not because I wanted to… but because I didn’t know what else to do with the anger.”
He laughs bitterly. “With myself.”
His eyes drop to the ground.
“I didn’t know how to help you. I didn’t know how to reach you.”
“So I drove.” His voice lowers. “Just drove.”
The wind moves through the yard.
“There was a car in front of me,” he says. “It was swerving. I..I thought the driver was drunk.” His fingers curl against the arms of the chair. “And I was so damn angry… I didn’t even think. I leaned on the horn and flashed my high beams.”
His voice cracks. “And then the car jerked.” He inhales sharply. “It swerved again and then it turned around.” His eyes close briefly. “That’s when I saw her.”
“Sophie.”
My stomach drops.
Dominic’s breathing becomes uneven.
“Her car went off the road before I could even process what was happening…It slid straight into the ditch.” The words scrape out of him. “I slammed on the brakes and I ran towards the car.”
His voice shakes harder.
“I saw her inside.” His hands tremble violently. “I was going to call for help. I swear to God I was.”
He wipes at his face roughly as tears fall. “But I had been drinking.”
“And in that moment all I could think about was what it would look like.” His voice breaks. “A drunk Doctor standing over a crashed car. I panicked.”
He stands suddenly, pacing a step away. “I kept thinking about everything we would lose. My license. My career…Our life.”
His voice cracks harder. “You.”
He runs both hands through his hair. “If I hadn’t honked, If I hadn’t flashed those lights…”
“If I had just let that car pass…”
His voice disappears.
Then he says quietly, “Maybe she’d still be alive.”
A long breath shudders out of him.
“That night… after I saw the car…” His voice drops. “I drove home.”
He looks down at his hands. “I was so angry at myself I couldn’t even breathe. I went outside and started punching the wall.”
His fists clench as if remembering. “Over and over. Hard enough to split my knuckles open. They bled everywhere.” He shakes his head slowly. “And I didn’t feel a thing.”
A broken laugh escapes him. “Not a single ounce of pain.” His eyes lift to mine. “Because what I felt inside was so much worse.”
Tears fall down my face as I walk toward him. I reach up and cup his face in my hands. He looks completely shattered.
And I kiss him, soft, steady. When I pull back, I keep my hands on his face.
“Dominic,” I whisper. “It’s not your fault.”
He shakes his head.
But I hold him there.
My thumb wipes away the tears on his cheek. “You were scared. You were human. And none of that makes you a monster.”
His arms wrap around me suddenly, he pulls me tightly against him and buries his face in my shoulder as he cries. The kind of crying that comes from carrying something too heavy for too long.
And I hold him.
Just like he held me.
The wind moves through the oak tree above us. Leaves fall softly into the yard, one lands near our feet. Another drifts slowly through the air.
And standing there beneath the quiet rustle of branches…
With the truth finally spoken aloud…
It feels like the season of our lives has finally changed.