“Hello?”
“Hi, it’s Paul, is that Abby?”
At the sound of his voice, I let go of the buzzer and glanced at Laura. She was looking at me, puzzled. Then I pushed it again.
“Paul?”
“Hey! I’m here. Sorry it’s really late. Can I talk to you?”
I glanced at Laura. “It’s the Newfoundland guy.”
Laura stared at me. “Here?”
“He’s here.” My heart was full of joy, even without knowing what he’d say. Just from knowing I’d get a few more minutes with him. I grabbed my keys. “I’ll go down and talk to him.”
I rushed out the door. Just as it closed, I could hear Laura pressing the button to the buzzer behind me. “She’ll be right down.”
I skipped the elevator and ran down the six flights of stairs. Paul was waiting outside in the lobby next to the buzzers and mailboxes. He smiled when he saw me.
“Sorry it’s late,” he said. “My flight was delayed, and we just got in.”
“Hi,” I said, my voice sounding breathless.
“Hi,” he said with a smile. “I hope this didn’t come off as strange, but I wanted to talk to you in person, and I thought I should just come see you.”
“Okay!” I sounded ridiculously cheerful.
He took a step toward me. I wanted him to hug me. He looked like he wanted to, but then neither of us moved. “I got your text in Toronto on my stopover, but I’d already bought a ticket to come down here and I thought I should say it in person.”
“Say what?”
He took a breath. “So first of all, my mother left a message and said she got kicked out of her apartment complex permanently, so now she’s in a homeless shelter.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“She had it coming, to be honest. But the point is, it’s not my problem anymore. Maybe she’ll realize she can’t keep doing this to people, alienating her neighbors and so on. My father let my mother walk all over him, and I thought for a long time that was love. That’s what you did for people you loved. I thought I was helping things by being easygoing.”
I nodded, listening.
“So when I got married, I kept trying to do what my wife wanted, and also what my mother wanted, and they didn’t want the same things. So I tried to be a peacemaker. And it didn’twork. But when—when my mother said those things to you during the show, I realized, I don’t want her in my life anymore. You were so much more important to me than keeping the peace. And that made me realize, I should have done that for Trish, too.”
I nodded. Was that the way this was going? “It’s okay if you want to get back together with her.”
He laughed, once, quietly. “No, Abby. The point is, I don’t think I was ever as in love with Trish as I am with you. Because you let me be angry. And passionate. And you don’t try to walk all over me. And you’re the one who I cared enough about to finally set those boundaries. So I talked to Trish, and I apologized to her. But the person I want to be with is you. I love you. Completely, and with all my heart. And I want to find a way to make this work.”
I was motionless, joy flooding through me in a slow wave.
Paul’s face was suffused with a tender, adoring look that I was sure must be reflected in my own expression. “Did you really think I would fly all the way down here just to tell you I was getting back together with my ex-wife?”
“I was hoping not. That could definitely have been a phone call.”
He laughed a little.
“And I know you were worried you might turn out like your mother,” he continued. “I know you were scared of being bitter and cynical. But you don’t do cynical things. Letting Lisette stay with you, was that cynical? Or letting us drag you to improv practice? Or flying home to take care of your sister as soon as she needed you? You’re not cynical at all. You look after other people. All the time. And now I want to look after you.”
“I love you so much,” I whispered.
“Then can we figure something out, here? I know you can’t still work from Newfoundland, but…”
