"Because I never stopped wondering."
He paused.
"After my wife died, I searched for you."
Eleanor stared at him.
"And when you found me?"
"I didn't know whether you would want me in your life."
"So you waited."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was afraid that if you knew how long I'd been looking, you'd think I was trying to rewrite the past."
Eleanor cried.
"You didn't rewrite anything."
"No."
He smiled weakly.
"We simply got another chapter."
The Secret That Hurt the Most
Then Daniel said something none of them expected.
"There was one more reason I didn't contact you sooner."
Eleanor looked at him.
"What?"
"I knew your husband."
Silence.
Eleanor's breath caught.
"What?"
Daniel nodded.
"Michael."
Her late husband's name sounded strange coming from Daniel.
"You knew him?"
"Not well."
"How?"
Daniel explained that years earlier, he had encountered Michael through work.
They had spoken several times.
Eventually, Daniel discovered that Michael was Eleanor's husband.
He had chosen not to interfere.
"I could have contacted you."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because you were happy."
Eleanor looked down.
Daniel continued.
"I had spent decades imagining what would happen if I found you again."
"But when I did, I realized something."
"What?"
"Your life wasn't waiting for me."
He smiled.
"You had built something beautiful."
Eleanor cried silently.
"I loved you," he said.
"But I respected the life you had chosen."