I read through it anyway.
The divorce was part of that. I signed faster than any decent man should have been able to sign after thirty-five years. I knew what that would tell you. I wanted it to tell you there was no marriage left to save.
A small sound escaped me.
My hand went to my mouth.
I remembered the envelope. Ordinary white. My name typed incorrectly, the middle initial included though I never used it. I remembered sitting at the kitchen table with the papers spread before me while Elise made phone calls I could not follow.
Randall had requested the divorce.
No reconciliation period beyond what the law required. No mediation except through attorneys. Clean division. Efficient. Bloodless.
I had thought efficiency was proof that he felt nothing.
It had been designed as proof.
I lowered the letter.
“He planned my interpretation.”
Wade did not answer.
“He sat somewhere and thought about what would hurt enough to make me stop looking.”
