Ch. 16: The Other Side of Truth

There were things Nina had learned never to say aloud, and most of them were about she.

"You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to.

She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to.

Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to. "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do.

The past was not a place you could visit and leave unchanged. It followed you home.

Nina crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to. "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. "You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to.

He watched her go and understood, too late, that he had already made his choice.