Ch. 11: Between Us

Rain traced long silver lines down the window, and somewhere a clock counted the hours.

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.

Sophia crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to. For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered.

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

For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Sophia said. "I'm asking you to listen."

Every choice had a price. Sophia had known that for years, and still the knowing never made it easier.

Sophia crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to. The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. "You shouldn't have come," he said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to.

Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more.

And somewhere beneath the fear, quiet and stubborn, something like hope began to grow.