He Took His First Love, So I Left

Margaret's POV: At my husband Richard Bennett's retirement party, someone decided to put him on the spot with a question. "If you could live your life over, would you still marry your wife?" He looked right past me as I stood holding the cake. His eyes settled on Susan Fletcher, his recently divorced former colleague. "I wouldn't. If she hadn't married someone else first, I would've married her thirty years ago." Everyone at the table fell silent. I stood motionless with the cake in my hands, my eyes filling with tears. We'd been married for 30 years, and I'd worked as a hospital nurse throughout our marriage. After my mother-in-law became paralyzed, I worked during the day and cared for her at night, all while raising our two children. Richard had always promised that his first trip after retirement would be with me, to see the Eldermere Mountains. Now he slid his phone across to Susan. On the screen were two plane tickets to Westhaven for the following morning. "For my first trip after retirement, I'm taking you." Susan took the phone and looked at me, her eyes red. "Don't get the wrong idea, Margaret. You could never stop worrying about everyone at home. I'm only keeping him company in the Eldermere Mountains for you." "Where does that leave me?" I asked. Richard sounded unconcerned. "They need you at home. Keep things running here, and I'll make it up to you when I get back." Then he hurried me along. "Are you going to cut the cake or not? Don't keep everyone waiting." I looked down at the words Together for the Rest of Our Lives on the cake. The frosting had already melted. He'd left me his mother, our children, and the hardest parts of our life together. But the mountains I'd waited 30 years to see, and the future he'd promised me, he gave to her. After the party, I asked a colleague to find a caregiver for my mother-in-law. Then I slipped the divorce settlement agreement I'd signed into his suitcase for Westhaven. If he wanted to start over, he didn't have to wait for another chance at life. ***** When we got home, Richard carried Susan's luggage inside along with his own. "We're meeting at 6 a.m. tomorrow. She can spend the night in the guest room. It'll save her the trip back." He spoke as though he'd never said any of it at the party. Susan stood behind him without coming any farther inside. "I should stay at a hotel. Margaret's upset today. Please don't let this turn into a fight because of me." Richard frowned. "We're both almost 60. Is she really going to get suspicious over you staying 1 night?" He turned to me and told me to get a clean set of sheets. Then he asked whether I'd sorted out his mother's medication for the next morning. I told him the caregiver had already arrived and that I'd left the care instructions beside the bed. From her room, my mother-in-law tapped the bed rail twice. "I don't want a caregiver. Margaret's the only one who knows how often I need to be turned during the night." Susan spoke softly. "Ms. Bennett, Margaret's the luckiest person in this family. Neither you nor her children could get by without her. It's nothing like my life. Now that I'm divorced, I don't even have anyone waiting for me at home." My mother-in-law sighed and told Richard to make sure Susan has someone looking out for her from now on. Everyone in the house heard her, but no one seemed to think there was anything wrong with what she'd said. I brought out fresh sheets, only to realize I'd automatically reached for Richard's favorite gray again. During our first year of marriage, he'd gone on a business trip for 15 days. I'd stayed up until dawn alone with our feverish son. After my mother-in-law's stroke, I hadn't quit work. I'd transferred to a hospital closer to home. Whenever I said I was tired, Richard told me to hang on a little longer. He'd make it up to me once he retired. I put the gray sheets back in the cupboard and took out an unopened white set instead. Richard found the divorce settlement agreement when he opened his suitcase to put in his charger. He pulled it out, skimmed it, and scowled. "You're threatening divorce because I told the truth at dinner?" "I'm not making threats." "I'll take you there when I get back." "I didn't wait all these years to come second." Susan immediately started wheeling her suitcase toward the door. "Richard, I won't go. I'm used to being on my own anyway." Richard caught the suitcase and held it in place. "The flights and hotel are already booked. Don't fall for her little act." He stuffed the agreement back into the suitcase compartment, convinced that I was only using divorce to force him to cancel the trip. "You'll have cooled off by the time I get back. We'll talk then." Susan murmured that she shouldn't have come. Then she asked if I really had to make Richard break a promise on his very first day of retirement. Richard immediately cut in. "I offered her the ticket. Stop giving her a hard time." He rushed to defend her so quickly that there was no point in my saying anything. That evening, I went over my mother-in-law's medication schedule with the new caregiver, then asked my son and daughter to join the conversation in our family group chat. My son said he could increase his contribution to her care costs by half, but he couldn't take time off to stay with her at night. My daughter said her child was about to start school and asked me to hold out at least until the end of the month. They were both willing to talk about money. My time was the only thing they still assumed cost nothing. I closed the group chat and called my former head nurse. Six months earlier, she'd asked if I wanted to join a mobile medical outreach program. I'd travel with a medical team to remote areas and spend a year doing chronic disease screening. Back then, I'd told her that my mother-in-law couldn't be left alone and that Richard was about to retire. This time, I gave her just three words. "Count me in." I submitted my retirement application online, then signed the 12-month assignment agreement. He took the signed divorce agreement with him to Westhaven. I gave another copy to my lawyer, along with my divorce filing documents.