“He…”
Well, he hadn’t treated me right, had he? Neither one of us had treated each other right. Our relationship hadn’t been anything like what Gregory had experienced with his late wife.
“Well, things didn’t end very well for us,” I finally said.
“What happened?”
“I stayed too long, for one thing.”
“Yikes. That happens.”
“Well, it kind of happens before you realize what’s going on,” I explained. “I wanted to get married, and I thought that we were going to. He just wasn’t ready, and I figured I’d wait. That proved out to be the wrong decision.”
“What happened?”
“He found someone younger.”
Prettier.
Funnier.
Probably not smarter.
“I’m sorry,” Gregory reached for my hand and squeezed. I looked down at our hands, and then I glanced over at him. He was watching me carefully, but I didn’t see any judgment there. There was literally none. He wasn’t mad or upset or weird about the fact that I’d been with someone before.
That was so different from what I’d experienced with Tony. When I’d dated the candy man, he’d been obsessed with knowing every detail of my past. There were things he really, really wanted to know, things he felt he needed to know, and things he felt I was hiding, so he couldn’t know. My entire world had quickly turned into learning how to manage Tony’s anger.
I realized now that just wasn’t healthy or okay.
When you loved someone, you needed to do things to make them happy. You needed to help them find ways to feel at peace, to be comfortable. I’d never managed to get that with him.
“That wasn’t fair to you,” Gregory said.
“You’re right. I made mistakes, too, but…”
“It probably hurt a lot.”
“It did.”
“You don’t have to feel bad for hurting, Kinsley,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“I can tell just by looking at you that you feel guilty. I’m not sure why. Maybe you feel bad for wasting so much time with someone who didn’t appreciate you, or perhaps you just feel upset that this guy ruined a lot of things for you.”
“Both of those assessments are pretty accurate,” I whispered.
“I don’t know a lot about breakups,” Gregory admitted. “I do, however, know a lot about people, and one thing I know is that people deserve to be happy.”
“I like that.”
“Me too.”
He leaned back against the porch swing, and he pushed us softly as we watched those beautiful clouds flying by. We kept holding hands, and the conversation shifted toward families and pets and animals and our childhoods, and before I knew it, another hour had gone by.
“I should probably go pick up Bailey,” Gregory finally said. “She’s probably done with the show by now.”
“That’s totally fine,” I agreed easily. “I have a few things I need to pick up at the store for my cupcakes, anyway.”