She rolled it gently between her fingers.
“I used to think you weren’t good enough for Eric.”
I lifted an eyebrow.
“That’s a bold statement to make while sitting in my kitchen.”
She laughed.
“I know.”
I waited.
“And?”
Her smile faded into something softer.
She looked toward the room where her granddaughter slept.
“Now I sometimes wonder whether my son was ever good enough for you.”
I didn’t answer immediately.
Then I smiled.
Not because Eric had suffered.
Not because his relationship had ended.
Not because his comfortable life had become harder.
And not because I believed everything between us would magically become easy.
I smiled because I had finally stopped begging another human being to care about me.
I had stopped begging Eric to love his daughter.
Stopped asking him to become responsible because I needed him to.
Responsibility was his choice now.
And if he chose it, Chloe might someday have a meaningful relationship with her father.
