Ch. 9: Rules of the Game

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

She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all.

Emily crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to. There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do.

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. 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," Emily said. "I'm asking you to listen." She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered.

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

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Emily said. "I'm asking you to listen." "You shouldn't have come," he 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.