Christy smiled her thanks and tapped her spoon against the eggshell. “Tell me about your day.”
David pulled up a chair and took a seat across from her at the table.
“We always talk about me,” he said. “I want to talk about you. Tell me about this seminar you did today.”
Christy wondered what had brought about this transformation. But she decided not to question the turn of events. “We had a full house—almost two hundred and fifty. The program focused on the importance of communication.”
“That sounds interesting.” David munched on a strip of bacon and leaned forward. “But communication is such a broad topic.”
“You’re right.” Christy took another bite of toast, grateful that her stomach was finally settling down. “What I did was emphasize strengthening certain communication skills in marriage.”
His eyes met hers. “Such as?”
“What you’re doing now,” Christy said.
David raised a brow.
“I’m serious,” she said with a smile. “At this moment you’re giving me your full attention. That says to me that you’re interested in what I have to say and that I’m important to you.”
“I am interested in what you have to say,” David said. “And you are important to me.”
A warmth flowed through her at his words, and Christy once again realized firsthand the power of words.
“You’re important to me, too,” she said softly.
“Christy.” He pushed the eggs around on his plate with the side of his fork. “I’m sorry about all this mess.”
She glanced around the kitchen. Granted, the toaster still sat on the counter and the skillet hadn’t been cleared from the top of the stove, but the room was a far cry from being a mess. “It doesn’t look that bad—”
“Not the kitchen,” he said, lifting his gaze. “I’m talking about this whole marriage business. I hope you know I never meant to hurt you.”
Christy started to say that it was okay, that she knew he never meant to hurt her, but she stopped herself. All she could think of was how she’d warned her seminar attendees that nothing shut down true communication more than giving trite, pat answers.
For days she’d prayed for an opportunity to reopen a true dialogue with David. Now that she’d been given the perfect chance, why was she finding it so hard to find her voice?
“After the way I treated you all those years ago, I don’t understand how you could have even considered marrying me,” David added.
Christy’s gaze dropped to her plate. Even after ten years, remembering how he’d dumped her without a second thought still hurt. He’d been her whole world. In one day she’d gone from thinking she knew him better than she knew herself to being convinced she hadn’t known him at all.
“I married you because in some way I’d never stopped loving you,” she said finally. “And for that brief moment in that lounge in Las Vegas, I was willing to let my heart lead the way.” She gave a little laugh. “I know it doesn’t sound like me. I’ve never been much of a gambler.”
Christy had taken a chance and spoken from the heart. She only hoped her honesty would encourage David to do the same.
He paused and cleared his throat.
“You’ve always been a risk taker,” David said, meeting her gaze. “It took great courage to leave your family and go off to New Jersey alone when you were only eighteen.”
“What was hard was leaving you,” she said softly.
He stared at her for a moment. “Not as hard as it was to let you go. When I watched your plane take off, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
Christy frowned. Her parents had been at the airport, but she and David had split up months before. Unless…
“You were there?” she asked, even though she already knew the answer. “You came to see me off.”
David gave a reluctant nod.
“But why?”
“It doesn’t matter.” His eyes took on a faraway look.
“It matters to me,” she said.
He remained silent.
Her heart flip-flopped in her chest. Why would he have come to see her off unless he’d still cared?
“Why did you break up with me, David?” Thankfully her voice came out matter-of-fact instead of weak and trembly like her insides. “We were so good together.”
He reached forward and took her hand. “You’re a wonderful woman and I know that one day you’ll find the right man and have a long and happy life together.”
“But I’m married to you.”
David’s hazel eyes darkened and a look of regret filled his gaze. “No matter how much we’d like it to be different, we can’t kid ourselves,” David said. “You’ve got this great career that keeps you incredibly busy and I don’t know whether I’m coming or going at mine. If we had children, who’d take care of them? We both have enough trouble looking after ourselves.”
“Your mother had a career.” Christy fully supported a woman’s right to stay home, but she’d never envisioned herself in that role. “So did your father.”
“My mother,” David said, speaking slowly and distinctly, “may she rest in peace, was a wonderful woman. But she was on the road more than she was with her family.”
Christy thought of her own schedule. Though she tried to keep her travel to a minimum, she still spent close to twenty percent of the time out of town. “I’m not sure what the fact that we’re both busy professionals has to do with anything. Lots of couples lead busy lives.”
“I know that,” he said. “I grew up in that kind of household and I don’t know if it’s fair for kids to always come in second to their parents’ careers.”
“But that’s positively archaic,” she said.
“Or is it just being honest?” He raised a brow. “Don’t you talk in your seminars about the importance of putting God and family first?”
“I do put God first.” Christy lifted her chin, ignoring the twinge of doubt about the family part of David’s question. “I serve Him every time I take center stage. And I’m home a lot of times when you’re gone. You can’t honestly tell me that you feel I’ve neglected you.”
“No, of course not,” David said. “But don’t tell me you haven’t thought about how nice it would be to have someone at home to talk and relax with after a long day?”
Christy couldn’t help but smile thinking what it would be like to have David there waiting.
“And think about when you have children,” he continued. “Children need their mother to be available. I’ve never believed all those arguments about quality versus quantity stuff.”
“What I believe,” Christy said, “is that both parents have to make sacrifices for their children.”
“For the next few years my job is going to take most of my time and energy,” David said. “Even if I want to, I won’t be able to make sacrifices. That’s why I couldn’t believe my grandfather tying my taking over the business to having a wife.”
“We all need balance in our lives,” Christy said, resorting to the same persuasive tone he’d used so effectively earlier. “There’s no reason we can’t come up with a workable solution.”