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Laughter bubbled up out of the audience. I smiled good-naturedly, as did Evan. Neither of us bore any rancor toward Gordon Godfrey for bringing it up. Like everything else that looked to be spontaneous on that stage, it had been carefully negotiated and rehearsed.

“No, it’s not the first time we were married.” I looked over at Evan. He put his arm around my shoulders and gently squeezed. “But I have no regrets.”

“So, what happened the first time?” Godfrey asked. “You seemed like you were both so much in love at the time. During your first marriage, I mean.”

“Our first marriage was one of convenience,” Evan said. “I wanted to keep her hard-working, brilliant mind near me as much as possible, and she needed my face for her most worthycause of saving the rainforest.”

“So, you guys weren’t in love the first time around?” Godfrey asked.

Evan and I looked at each other, and it wasn’t scripted. We both smiled. I felt the warmth and affection coming out of his gaze and found the confidence to answer.

“We were too busy driving each other crazy to realize how much we were in love,” I replied.

The audience laughed, and Godfrey did as well.

“Oh man, I can totally relate. There are some days that my wife makes me want to tear what’s left of my hair out and run screaming into the wilderness.”

More laughter from the audience, though I didn’t think what Godfrey had said was all that funny.

“Well, the love was always there. We just had to find out our way to it.” I smiled up at Evan and then turned back to Godfrey. “I don’t know what else I can say about it.”

“So, the two of you are in love?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said, and there was no chicanery there. Evan spontaneously leaned over and kissed me on top of the head. The audience responded with a chorus of ‘awwws’ that echoed through the theater.

“That’s obvious to me and everyone else in here,” Godfrey said with a nod. “But why the divorce the first time? If you were so much in love?”

“We were very much in love,” Evan said “but we didn’t know it. A whole lot of it was my fault. I didn’t get it.”

His jaw set hard, and I realized he was speaking from the heart. He was also ad-libbing, but I wasn’t about to stop him.

“I thought that if I held myself apart from the rest of the world,” Evan said, picking up momentum as he went “I would never behurt. I thought that being an island would keep my heart safe. I wanted people to think I was a cold-hearted businessman, and I succeeded. I succeeded not only with the general public, but…”

He looked at me with hurt regret.

“But I succeeded in convincing my wife of that, too. You know what, though, Gordon?”

“What?” Godfrey asked right on cue.

“No man is an island. I can’t remember who said that quote off the top of my head, but it’s true. I thought I didn’t need anyone in my life. I thought that I was a self-made man, a kind of Ayn Rand antihero who could do it all on his own. But you know something? Nobody can do it on their own. Humans aren’t designed to live separately from each other. We’re designed to be together. Especially with the one we love.”

More ‘awwws’ from the audience. They were eating it up with a spoon, so to speak. I reached up to my shoulder and squeezed Evan’s hand affectionately. I so loved my husband in that moment, for speaking from the heart.

“And how about you?” Godfrey asked, addressing me. “How did the journey affect you?”

“Well,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I think that a lot of it was me learning to have more confidence in myself. I thought for the longest time I would never be anyone other than ‘the rich guy’s wife’, but Evan helped me believe in myself and live up to my full potential. And that…”

I looked up into his beautiful eyes.

“…is why I love him so much.”

Godfrey and the audience were digging it so hard, I almost felt bad.

“Splendid, splendid.” Godfrey moved on to the real reason we were on the show. “So, you guys have a charity that benefits the Amazon, right?”

And there we had it. I went into my spiel about how many square miles of the forest disappeared every year. I did the facts and figures. Evan did the emotional reactions and supplied hope in abundance. Our overall message was urgent, but upbeat. The world was in danger, but we still had a chance to put things right.

When we walked backstage after the interview, I scooped up my yawning toddler and held him to my hip. I no longer cared if he wrinkled up my dress or smudged my makeup.

“I think that went well,” Evan said.

I cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Pimping the charity, or your heartfelt confession?”

He laughed and kissed me tender.

“Both.”

The End.