I still remember the day Melanie left me standing at the altar. It was as if time had frozen, and I was left wondering what had happened. Ten years went by, and all I received from her were annual envelopes from different law firms, each containing divorce papers. I never signed them, not because I wanted to hold onto our marriage, but because I wanted to know why she had left.
One morning, as I was cleaning the barn, I received another envelope from her. But this time, something was different. The envelope was thicker, and the papers inside were more detailed. I didn’t bother reading them; instead, I tossed the envelope onto the porch step.
Later that day, Melanie appeared at my doorstep, dressed in a power suit and heels. She looked confident, but her eyes betrayed her. She wanted me to sign the divorce papers so she could marry her fiancé. I agreed to sign, but only if she waived any claim to my property. We had built a life together, and I wasn’t about to give it up without a fight.
As we negotiated, Melanie stayed with me at the farm. We didn’t exactly get along, but the tension between us was palpable. I could see the old Melanie peeking through the cracks of her polished exterior. We started talking, and the conversations flowed like they used to when we were younger. We argued, laughed, and reminisced about old times.
Just as things were starting to look up, Melanie’s fiancé showed up at the farm. He was everything I wasn’t – city-bred, polished, and arrogant. Melanie seemed torn between her old life and her new one. I signed the papers, and she left with her fiancé, but not before I asked her one question: “Are you truly happy?”
Melanie didn’t answer, but I knew the answer. I knew she wasn’t happy, not really. I got into my truck and drove to the airport, determined to catch her before she left. When I arrived, the flight had already taken off, but Melanie was standing there, backpack slung over her shoulder, with tears in her eyes.
“I forgot to say goodbye to Johnny,” she said, referring to our dog.
We drove back to the farm together, and Melanie tore up the divorce papers. “Divorce officially canceled,” she said, smiling. We walked into the house, hand in hand, ready to start anew. The silence of the past decade was finally broken, and our story was about to begin again.
