CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
RHETT
One Year
The anniversary of the leak begins with a red light.
Camera Three in the arena production booth is live for a playoff documentary interview. I notice it immediately.
For one second, memory returns whole: Damon across the table, Nora behind glass, my own voice becoming the weapon.
The producer asks, "Does this date affect you?"
"Yes."
"How?"
I look at the red light.
"It reminds me that private character eventually becomes public consequence."
"Are you and Nora engaged?"
"No."
"Will you propose today?"
"That would make the anniversary about replacing one spectacle with another."
The producer looks disappointed.
After the interview, I go to the community rink. Nora asked me to meet her there after closing. No explanation.
The building is dark except for lights over the ice.
She stands at center wearing jeans, a cream sweater, and skates. Her camera rests on the boards.
I step onto the ice in shoes and nearly fall.
"Elegant," she says.
"You withheld equipment."
"There are skates on the bench."
I lace them and join her.
For several laps, we say nothing.
Then Nora stops at center ice.
"One year ago, I thought surviving thirty days would be enough," she says. "Then I thought leaving would be enough. Then I thought loving you from a distance might be enough."
My heart begins to pound.
She takes the velvet pouch from her pocket.
"I don't need marriage to prove you choose me," she continues. "I want marriage because I choose the life we have practiced building."
She opens the pouch.
Our rings lie inside.
"Rhett Callahan, will you marry your ex-wife?"
For the first time in my life, I cannot speak.
Nora smiles through tears. "The microphone is not live."
I laugh, choke, and take her face in both hands.
"Yes," I say. "Yes."
"There are conditions."
"Of course there are."
"Premarital counseling continues. We choose a new home together. We announce it jointly, tomorrow, after we tell family. No sponsorships. No exclusive photographs."
"Yes."
"And if you ever call me a distraction again, I get the penthouse and your best stick."
"You already have everything else."
She slides my ring onto my finger.
I place hers on hers.
The gold does not restore the old marriage.
It marks the choice to build another.