“If we never get back together, will you be okay financially?”
Lauren stared.
“Is that a test?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You sure?”
“I got a job.”
He knew.
Lauren had returned to brand strategy at a medical-device company.
“I make one hundred twenty-six thousand dollars.”
Daniel smiled.
“Specific.”
“I made a budget.”
“That’s frightening.”
“I know.”
She smiled.
Then:
“I moved out of my parents’ house.”
“Where?”
“Rental in Ardmore.”
“You like it?”
“It has terrible plumbing.”
Daniel laughed.
Lauren continued:
“I opened my own retirement account.”
He stared.
“What?”
“I know that’s normal.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“I’m proud of you.”
The words made her cry.
She became angry at herself.
“I hate crying whenever money comes up.”
Daniel waited.
Lauren wiped her face.
“I think I spent my whole adult life believing money was something controlled by whoever had the most.”
Daniel thought about his mother.
His father.
The trust.
Lauren’s father.
“Sometimes it is.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“I want mine to be boring.”
Daniel smiled.
“Boring money sounds good.”
That was the first night he kissed her after the wedding.
Only once.
He went home afterward.
No dramatic reunion.
At eleven months, Margaret received an invitation.
Not to a wedding.
Dinner.
Lauren’s apartment.
Margaret arrived carrying wine.
Lauren opened the door.
“No checks?”
Margaret stared.
Lauren immediately looked terrified.
Then Margaret laughed.
“Very funny.”
The apartment was modest.
Two bedrooms.
Rental furniture mixed with several pieces from Lauren’s old life.
Cynthia came too.
Daniel.
Patricia.
No Charles.
That was Lauren’s choice.
Dinner went well until dessert.
Then Lauren stood.
“I have something.”
Daniel groaned.
“Documents?”
Everyone laughed except Lauren.
Then she did too.
“No.”
She brought out a white cake box.
Inside was a small replica of their wedding cake.
Margaret stared.
Lauren said:
“We never cut it.”
Daniel looked at her.
“This is either adorable or deeply unhealthy.”
“Therapist approved.”
“Then suspicious.”
Lauren handed Margaret the first slice.
“Why me?”
“Because you paid for the original.”
Everyone went quiet.
Margaret stared at the cake.
Then at Lauren.
“That joke took courage.”
Lauren smiled nervously.
“Too soon?”
Margaret ate a bite.
“Cake is excellent.”
Daniel laughed.
The evening became easier afterward.
Exactly one year after the wedding, Daniel and Lauren returned to the Grand Bellmont.
Not for another ceremony.