Ch. 12: A Door Left Open

The letter had arrived without a name, and that was the first thing that frightened her.

Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to. Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to. For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Nina said. "I'm asking you to listen." The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Nina said. "I'm asking you to listen."

The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most.

The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Nina said. "I'm asking you to listen." "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to.

She thought of all the versions of herself she might have been, and wondered which one he saw.