“You’ve been kicking ass, Jolene, and that’s in spite of me standing in your way every chance that I got. You’ve just blown past me and through me, just carried on building and going strength to strength.” He paused. “And of all the things I feel bad about where you’re concerned, that’s probably number one – that I, someone who knows damn good and well how much someone who’s left a bad, awful situation needs normality and calm, made it even harder for you to get those things. Starting again is exhausting and takes real guts, and I’m fully ashamed of myself for making it harder for you. I barely scraped my life together after Iraq and that was with no opposition. I can’t imagine what I’d have managed if I’d had some arrogant jerk cutting me off at the knees at every turn.”
“Well,” she said
