Ch. 20: Where We Begin

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

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. Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most.

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

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

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

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

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