He Counted Seconds With Me and Seasons With Her Chapter 08

He Counted Seconds With Me and Seasons With Her Chapter 08

My parents and I arrived at the Rockies.

The snow in the Rockies was more vast than I had ever imagined.

The cable car climbed slowly. Outside the window, the mountains were covered in endless white.

My mother sat on my left. My father sat on my right. The two of them were pressed against the glass like

little kids, peering out.

“Old man, look at that rime ice!”

“I see it, I see it! It’s much prettier than those few trees by our building.”

My father laughed in agreement, reaching out to wrap my mother’s scarf tighter around her neck.

I sat between them, watching them, and a sudden ache rose in my heart.

So this is what a real couple is like.

Before, when Nathan took me on cable cars, he always impatiently stared down at his timer.

We were clearly sitting together, but between us, it felt like a thousand mountains and rivers lay in the way.

Just then, my mother turned to look at me. “Sweetheart, this snow is more beautiful than the ocean in New

York, isn’t it?”

I nodded.

More than just beautiful.

The ocean in New York was golden. The color of the setting sun. The color I begged for but could never

have.

Too many times, I had waited for Nathan to take me to see it. Waited for him to finish his work. Waited for him to suddenly remember, one day, that he still had a wife, and that his wife wanted to see the ocean.

At the end of my waiting, what came was the exception he made for Scarlett.

The moment the cable car reached the top, the wind, carrying fine grains of snow, rushed against my face.

I couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

At least now, I had finally ended that twisted relationship.

Stepping off the cable car, my father walked beside me.

His knees weren’t good-a problem from his younger years. But he insisted on walking this entire trail with

I supported my father as we reached the edge of the heavenly lake. He handed me a wooden plaque tied with

a red cord.

“Write your wish. I hear wishes made here come true.”

I rubbed my half-frozen hands together, picked up the pen, and wrote:

[If we stand in the snow together, we’ll have grown old together in this life.]

[May I, for the rest of my days, grow old with my parents.]

My mother smiled and pointed at my forehead, her tone gently scolding.

“Stay by your parents’ side forever, and I’m afraid you’ll end up an old maid, never finding a husband.”

I laughed and hugged my mother, acting spoiled. “Then I’ll never get married. I’ll stay by your side forever.”

On the way back, after eating the soup my mother had packed in a thermal container, I turned on my phone, which had been powered off the whole time.

The moment it turned on, hundreds of messages popped up.

From numbers in New York.

[Clara, where are you? I’ve been looking for you for so long.]

[I’m sorry. I was wrong. I truly know I was wrong. Can you give me one more chance, please?]

[I’ve already cut off all contact with Scarlett. Please, don’t divorce me. Please.]

[Didn’t you say you wanted to go to the Rockies to see the snow? I’ll take you this year.]

[Not just the Rockies. The Grand Canyon, Napa Valley, Aspen, Santorini-all the places I owe you. I’ll take leave and take you. Okay?]

[…..]

Looking at the wall of messages, this time I didn’t block him.

Instead, I sent him the photo of our family of three, taken at the Rockies.

[See? The things you wouldn’t do, there is always someone who will do them with me.]

[Nathan. I don’t need you anymore.]