Ch. 17: Promises

If someone had told her a year ago that she would be standing here, she would have laughed.

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

Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. 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. There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do.

Sophia crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to. Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Sophia said. "I'm asking you to listen."

The truth, when it finally came, was smaller and sharper than she had imagined.

Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. "You shouldn't have come," he said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to.

For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do.

Tomorrow would ask its questions. Tonight, she let herself simply breathe.