Ch. 11: Between Us

The morning came in grey and quiet, the way it always did before everything changed.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Emily said. "I'm asking you to listen." Emily crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to.

Emily 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.

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

The past was not a place you could visit and leave unchanged. It followed you home.

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. Money could buy a great many things, he 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. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more.

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