Chapter 15 - Daniel Paid For Dinner Himself
Two years after the wedding, Daniel invited Margaret to dinner.
A modest restaurant.
Eight tables.
No chandeliers.
No imported orchids.
When the check arrived, Margaret reached automatically for her purse.
Daniel stopped her.
“I invited you.”
“I can pay.”
“I know.”
He placed his card down.
That tiny exchange made Margaret emotional.
Daniel noticed.
“Mom?”
“I’m fine.”
He smiled.
“Fine is suspicious.”
She laughed.
Daniel had changed.
Not into a perfect man.
Into someone who could tolerate another person’s disappointment without
immediately trying to buy peace.
He had begun dating again.
Slowly.
He did not ask Margaret to approve.
Margaret liked that.
Before leaving, Daniel said:
“I used to think the worst thing that happened at my wedding was you
canceling everything.”
Margaret raised an eyebrow.
“I was very dramatic.”
“Yes.”
“Now I think the worst thing was that you had to get hit before I
understood what I was asking you to tolerate.”
May you like
Margaret looked at him.
That sentence mattered more than any apology he had given before.
