Silence stretched between us.
Then Dixie spoke.“He still showed up for the girls.”
I nodded.“He came to their school play.”
Mavis smiled, satisfied.“Of course he did.”
“He laughed,” I added, my voice cracking.“I heard him before I saw him.”
Dixie’s expression softened.“Oh, Peyton...”
“And then he left before I could speak to him.”
Mavis leaned back.“That wasn’t cruelty.That was restraint.”
“I don’t know if I can fix this,” I admitted.“Forgiveness doesn’t come easy to him.”
“No,” Mavis said.“Because trust is sacred to men like Creed.”
Dixie crossed her arms.“But they don’t walk away forever.”
Mavis pointed at me.“You don’t chase him.You don’t corner him.You live in truth.Fully.Transparently.”
“And you wait,” Dixie added.“Even when it hurts.”
I swallowed.“What if waiting isn’t enough?”
Mavis stood, smoothing her jacket like a woman concluding a meeting.“Then you’ll know you did everything right this time.”
I leaned back, exhaustion settling in, but so did something steadier.
Resolve.
“Also,” Dixie added with a grin, “we are both deeply impressed.”
“With what?”I asked.
Mavis didn’t hesitate.“Your ability to resist.Becausethatman is sinfully delicious.”
Dixie nodded.“She’s right.I don’t know if I could hold out this long.”
I shook my head at them and gave a weak smile.“You both are impossible.”
“And correct,” Mavis added.“Always.”
They stayed with me a little longer, grounding me, pulling me back from the ledge.
Creed was gone.
But the lesson wasn’t.
And if patience was the price of redemption...
I would pay it.
