“But she will be. She will be again.”
He doesn’t deny it, because he knows it’s true.
“You’re going to take her back, aren’t you?” I whisper.
He swallows hard, but says nothing.
“You can’t stand there and tell me you don’t love her anymore. That you want me. Not when you’re going to spend the rest of your life with her.”
I’m screaming now. The pain inside of me has become too much to bear, so I let it out of my body in the form of a scream. It’s like a dam has broken inside of me and the pain is spilling out, taking everything in its path. “Why did you marry me at all? What was the point in breaking me twice?”
My scream is so loud, it rattles the windows. “I was supposed to be a consolation prize? A temporary intimacy until she came back?”
He’s striding toward me, but I back away, holding up a hand. “No.”
My hand drops to the middle of his chest and I shove him away, hard. “You don’t get to come to me again and make me love you, then crush me with your bare hands. I won’t let it happen again.”
For several long moments, Giorgio doesn’t speak. His chest is heaving and there’s a muscle tick in his cheek. And he looks so devastated.
I almost reach out to comfort him, but then I remember that I’m supposed to be building a new life for myself, right? One without him? I can’t be fooled by those sad eyes a third time.
“Go,” I whisper, backing away from him. “Just go. And don’t come back.”
My eyes flutter open and the first thing I notice is that there is no sunlight. It’s dim, and the curtains are drawn. It is still early morning, but Giorgio and I had a plan to walk to the park before heading to the doctor.
“Giorgio?” I say, sitting up.
He’s asleep, sprawled out in bed and snoring quietly. He’s got one arm over me, which means he was awake for part of the night too.
I don’t think I’ll ever stop being happy when he does that. There are a lot of things I don’t understand about my ex-husband and what happened between him and Magdalene, but this is what matters the most to me: Giorgio loves me. He loves me for who I am, he wants to take care of me and make me happy, and he’s proven that with every action, even in the darkest moments of his own grief.
I look at the window again. Something’s not right. It’s like something is blocking the sunlight from coming through. It’s too dark out.
I slide out from under Giorgio’s arm and go to the window to look outside.
A cold feeling shoots up my spine and I gasp.
“Giorgio,” I whisper, tugging him up. “Giorgio.”
“Mmm?” He rubs at his eyes, sitting up slowly.
“It’s snowing,” I whisper.
I’ve never seen snow before. I’ve lived in Florida my entire life, and the weather is always so nice here. The cold is a foreign concept.
Giorgio stirs, coming to his feet and padding to the window. He parts the curtains, and I lean back as it falls over his broad shoulders.
“Goddamn,” he mutters, shaking his head. “What are we going to do?”
“Is it safe for us to go out?” I ask.
“Hmm,” Giorgio says, looking at me. His eyes are narrowed, and then he shakes his head. “We can’t go. We have to reschedule. The doctor will understand.”
I nod, sighing. We’ve been waiting for this day for weeks now, and there’s nothing else we can do but reschedule.
He leans against the window and lets out a low groan, rubbing his neck.
“We will figure it out. This is just a small setback. We’ll get there tomorrow.”
“We have to,” I murmur.
I turn around and walk to the closet, grabbing an old sweatshirt to put on. Giorgio dresses quickly in jeans and a t-shirt. We pad across the room, and then down the stairs. I feel cold everywhere I go.
When I reach the kitchen, Giorgio has turned on the TV. The screen is showing a weather forecast.
“...Storm will last until tonight, but we do not recommend going out. If you can, stay inside and keep warm. If you do not have heat, call the number listed below and a team will be sent to assist you. We are anticipating a lot of damage from this storm, but our emergency responders are prepared. This is the biggest storm in the last ten years...”
“Did she say ten years?” I whisper, walking to the sofa. “That’s insane. I’m so glad we didn’t plan on going anywhere.”
“Yeah,” Giorgio says. “The power might even go out, so we need to prepare for that too.”
“We need to go shopping,” I say, looking outside. “It’s really coming down out there. I want to have candles, flashlights, everything.”
Giorgio nods, and then we head out. It’s not that cold outside, but the wind is making it feel freezing. I gasp when I step out in the open, the air hitting me like a slap in the face.
The wind blows me back against Giorgio’s chest and he laughs, pushing me forward. “Come on, little one.”
We walk down the street, passing by some other people bundled in winter gear. It looks like we are the only ones without coats or hats, but they look silly.
By the time we reach the grocery store, my teeth are chattering. I walk down the aisles with Giorgio, and we fill the cart up. Canned goods, bread, batteries, candles, everything.
The power does end up going out later that evening, so all of the lights in the store flicker. When we check out, the girl working the register says the roads will be plowed and we will be able to get out soon.
I’m relieved.