Ch. 18: The Longest Night

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

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Sophia 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 remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. "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. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more.

He had built his whole life on being certain. She had a way of making certainty feel like a cage.

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

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

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