The night before, after reading my brief, you had invited Irene to come over for dinner. You were confused and a little overwhelmed by it all and you wanted her advice.

Irene started the conversation, "So how are you holding up kid?"

"I don't know Irene," you replied, "I guess I'm ready to start my new life…but I do still love him…and now there's Bill too."

"Didn't you go to Bill's office to file for the divorce?" she questioned.

"Yes, but he was supposed to write a brief concerning the reasons for the divorce. Instead, he sent me this," and she showed her my letter. "The story of our lives together."

Irene picked up my letter and started reading. She read while you were fixing dinner, and as you both ate.

Finally she stopped and said, "You know Jock was alright as a friend. But I never thought he was a very good husband for you, Mary."

"I know, I know. You thought I should have left him sooner," you admitted.

"You two had nothing in common. He never understood you, Mary. He never even tried. But do you know who did?"

"Bill?" you answered uneasily. "You already knew, didn't you?"

"That he loved you? Of course I knew, it was obvious. The way he looked at you. The way he reacted whenever you were upset or hurt. That's why I bypassed Jock, to warn him about my brother Sloan. I knew he would care, Jock didn't."

"That's true," you quietly agreed.

You gave her a wry look, "I didn't know you were writing to him though. Keeping him updated about me?"

"Well…" she began, ready to admit guilt, "I always liked Bill. He was such a sweet guy. And he was so gone about you. I just don't understand why you were so cold to him when he told you he loved you. He couldn't help it. Actually, I'm proud of him for finally saying it. Why did you get angry with him?"

"I wasn't angry…" you sighed. "I just didn't know what to say. I didn't want to hurt him. Maybe part of me wanted Jock to be more like Bill, and being around Bill just emphasized that. I was pretty confused myself."

"He's been devoted to you ever since you were kids," she continued on, "he even lent you the money to send Jock to the farm, to help him get well. Anything to make you happy. When he felt like he had to go away, I knew he'd be worried about you. So I kept him updated while Jock was away. So what? Every night you just wert home alone. Then Jock came back well and got a job and it still wasn't enough, was it?"

"I thought all that would make it better but it didn't. He didn't need me anymore. Everything's different. We have nothing in common. We're both personally in a better place. I still love him but it's like I was hanging on to an empty shell of what we used to be."

You looked away, "maybe I'm better off alone."

"Nonsense!" She waved you off. "That's me, Mary. Not you. You loved being part of a couple, you just picked the wrong partner. And you've got a ready-made one just waiting for you to come to your senses."

You gave a weak smile and shrugged.

Then she turned to you, serious. "So how about it, Mary? Now that it's over between you and Jock, why don't you give Bill a chance? You want a man who needs you? I don't think you'll find another man alive who needs you as much as Bill. For all his dating around, he never found anyone who makes him feel the way you do. He sat and suffered watching you with Jock and Sloan. He's stuck by your side through good times and bad. He's loved you through it all."

"Yes but i wouldn't know how to start. I never really thought of Bill that way before," you started, "I absolutely love him as a friend…and I've missed him since we started becoming more distant…" you trailed off remembering that Christmas night.

"Why don't you give him a chance?" Irene kept pushing, "Just go out with him on a few dates. Nothing serious. Try to see him in a different light. I think once you get used to someone treating you well and loving you as much as he does you'll wonder why you ever wasted so much time on Jock." And she smiled, hopeful she'd won.

"He is a pretty wonderful guy," you conceded as you glanced back over my letter, "And he was always there. For so long…I never knew he felt this way. In a way this brief does explain the reasons for our divorce, though I don't think he intended it that way…or maybe subconsciously he did." You thought out loud as you kept mulling it over in your mind.

"Well dearie, you called me over for my advice, now you've got it. You can go do what you want. Go back to Jock and a few weeks of indescribable giddiness, before reality sets back in and you're miserable. Or give Bill a chance. You might discover what it feels like to be loved by someone who truly understands you."

And with that she grabbed her bag, waved her hand and she was gone, leaving you alone to your own thoughts.