Chapter 2

The next morning, the air in our apartment felt thick, suffocating.

Mark was home, surprisingly.

He was humming, making coffee, like nothing was wrong.

Like he hadn' t forgotten the most important day of the year for me.

For us, supposedly.

"Morning, babe," he said, too cheerful. "Big day yesterday. The Colonel was impressed."

I didn't answer, just poured myself some juice.

"So," I said, turning to face him. "I'm taking that job offer."

He paused, coffee cup halfway to his lips. "What job offer?"

"The one in Portland. Head of Programming at KXPZ. I told you about it last month."

He' d barely listened then, distracted by a call from Jessica.

"Portland? Sarah, that' s across the country. You were serious about that?"

"Yes," I said. "I'm taking it. I start in four weeks."

He put his cup down. His cheerfulness vanished.

"Four weeks? Are you crazy? What about us? Our wedding? We have deposits down, Sarah."

"We can cancel them," I said.

"Cancel them? Just like that? What about my career here? My Guard commitments?"

His voice was rising. This was the Mark I was getting used to. Angry, put-upon.

"This isn't about your career, Mark. This is about mine. And about me."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Look, if this is about yesterday... I' m sorry. I got tied up. Jessica was just helping out."

"It' s not just about yesterday, Mark. It' s about a lot of yesterdays."

I held up David' s medallion. It was always on my nightstand.

"David would have understood," I said softly. "He always wanted me to be happy, to be strong."

Mark looked at the medallion, then at me. A flicker of something, maybe guilt, crossed his face.

"Sarah, don't do this. We can work this out. This is... this is too fast."

"It's not fast for me, Mark. I' ve been thinking about this for a long time."

My resolve was firm. I drew strength from David' s memory, from the quiet dignity he always carried.

"Four weeks," I repeated. "I' m leaving in four weeks."

He stared at me, his face a mixture of disbelief and anger.

"You' re really going to throw everything away?"

"I' m not throwing anything away, Mark. I' m choosing something different."

The deadline was set. The countdown had begun.