Most of all, I wished I could tell her that the end of a relationship was not the end of her future.
Daniel had returned to my life, but he had not returned to the place he once occupied in my heart.
That place had changed.
Perhaps, one day, I would forgive him completely. Perhaps I already had, in some quiet way that did not require us to become lovers again.
But forgiveness would never mean pretending that his choices had not hurt me.
And it would never mean teaching Grace that love was something she had to earn from a person who repeatedly chose to leave.
I had once spent seven years waiting for a man to choose me.
Now I was choosing myself.
I was choosing my daughter, my peace, my future, and the woman I was still becoming.
If Daniel became a dependable father, Grace would benefit from that. If he failed again, I would not allow his failure to define her childhood.
