I liked the warm house, the quiet mornings and the feeling that, for once in my life, I was not a bad week away from losing everything.
But Richard was nice to me.
Kinder than I had expected.
I remembered how I had coffee. She noticed when she was tired. I listened when I was talking, even when what I said was of no importance.
And at some point, in an uncomfortable and almost shameful way, I stopped pretending that I didn’t care.
I really loved him.
So Richard got sick.
Everything happened terrifyingly fast.
Six weeks after the diagnosis, I was standing at his funeral.
His children were in front of me as if I had personally taken their father.
Rebecca barely looked at me.
I cried anyway.