Chapter 14 - The First DinnerIt happened in February.
No dramatic storm.
No emergency.
No betrayal.
Clare simply called Nathaniel.
“Are you in New York?”
“Yes.”
“Would you like dinner?”
Silence.
“Nate?”
“I’m making sure I didn't hallucinate that.”
She smiled.
“Dinner. Seven. Newport.”
“I'll be there.”
“You're three hours away.”
“I'll be there.”
He arrived at 6:42.
Of course he did.
Clare chose a small seafood restaurant where nobody cared about surnames.
Nathaniel wore a dark sweater and ordinary coat.
They sat opposite each other.
For several minutes, conversation was painfully polite.
“How is Margaret?”
“Good.”
“Andrew?”
“Good.”
“The Rochester centers?”
“Good.”
Clare put down her fork.
“This is terrible.”
Nathaniel laughed.
“Yes.”
“Why are we nervous?”
“Because the last time we were married.”
That broke the tension.
They laughed.
Then they talked.
Really talked.
Nathaniel told her about stepping down from Callahan Atlantic.
Clare told him about nightmares she had experienced during the first year after surgery.
Nathaniel did not apologize again.
That mattered.
He listened.
When she described waking at 2:00 a.m. convinced she could hear hospital monitors, he didn't make her pain about his guilt.
He simply listened.
After dinner, they walked along the harbor.
Snow began falling lightly.
Nathaniel stopped beneath a streetlamp.
“Clare.”
She turned.
“I need to ask something.”
“What?”
“Why tonight?”
She considered lying.
Instead:
“Because I missed talking to you.”
Nathaniel’s face changed.
Hope.
Fear.
Love.
All carefully restrained.
“I missed talking to you too.”
Clare stepped closer.
“Don't make this bigger than it is.”
“I won't.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
She studied him.
Then kissed his cheek.
Nathaniel stopped breathing.
Clare smiled.
“Goodnight, Nate.”
She walked away.
Nathaniel stood beneath the falling snow for several minutes.
Then he laughed quietly to himself.
Not because he had won her back.
May you like
He hadn't.
But because for the first time in two years, there was a tomorrow between them.
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