The Promise He Never Remembered Chapter 10

The Promise He Never Remembered Chapter 10

Clara Bennett’s POV 

The sun in Hawaii is perfect. 

I walked barefoot on the warm sand, the wind blowing my hair into a mess, and I didn’t care. I’d been here for three days, spending every day with Toby as he dug in the sand, picked up shells, and chased the waves. I didn’t think about anything. I didn’t need to think about anything. 

“Mommy! Mommy, look!” Toby ran ahead, holding 

up a starfish, laughing so hard his eyes 

disappeared. “It’s still moving!” 

“Slow down, don’t fall,” I called after him, but I 

didn’t run. 

He ran far ahead, squatted down to put the 

starfish back in the water, then went after a small 

crab scuttling across the wet sand. That little 

back, running around in the sunlight, looked like a 

bird finally let out of a cage. Watching him, the 

corners of my mouth rose without my knowing. 

“Hi.” 

A man’s voice came from beside me. I turned. A 

tall man stood two steps away, tan skin, white 

linen shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows, 

sunglasses on his face, smiling naturally. 

He took off his sunglasses, showing a pair of 

warm brown eyes, and stepped closer: “Alone? 

Interested in a drink? The piña coladas at that bar 

over there are fantastic.” 

I looked at him, then at Toby in the distance, and 

gave a polite smile: “Thanks, but I don’t drink.” 

He was a bit surprised, probably not used to being 

turned down. He followed my look to Toby, 

nodded, and put his sunglasses back on: “Sorry to 

bother. Enjoy your day.” 

Then he left without pushing. I breathed a sigh of 

relief and looked down at my footprints in the 

sand–one set, just mine. 

In the past, when I went out, I would walk slower 

without thinking, waiting for the person who never 

– caught up. Now I don’t have to. I can walk as fast 

as I want, as far as I want. 

Looking up, I suddenly noticed quite a few people 

on the beach looking at me. A blonde woman in a 

bikini raised her glass to me with a friendly smile. 

A few young people sunbathing in the distance. 

also looked over from time to time. 

I was surprised. I looked down at myself–just a 

simple white dress with a thin cover–up over it, 

nothing special. I touched my face, feeling like. 

laughing. 

Maybe the reason they were looking at me was 

something I didn’t even realize myself–the string that had been tight for ten years had finally loosened. 

Four years pining in secret, six years in a hollow 

marriage. I waited for one person for ten whole 

years. Waited for him to turn around, to see me, to 

keep that drunken promise he didn’t even 

remember making. In the end, all I got was a cold pizza and the reflection of him holding another 

woman on a Ferris wheel. 

But standing here now, with the sea breeze 

-blowing, the sun shining, and Toby laughing not 

far away–I suddenly felt it was worth it. 

Those years weren’t wasted. Because I waited, I 

learned that it’s not worth waiting any longer. Sometimes, you have to let go. Being held back by one person for too long is meaningless. 

I brushed my hair back and walked toward Toby. 

He was squatted in front of a sand hole, 

completely absorbed in pouring water into it, talking to himself. 

“Mommy, look at the moat I dug!” He looked up, 

his face covered in sand, smiling to show the gap 

where his two front teeth were missing. 

I squatted down and wiped the sand off the tip of 

his nose: “Very nice. Better than the ones l’used to 

dig.” 

He gave a proud “hmph” and went back to digging. 

I looked up at the endless sea. The sky was very 

blue, the clouds very white, the world very big. I 

still have a long way to go. 

Walking alone is fine too.