He heard her sigh. "Nick, don't do this. I know what you're thinking, and it isn't true. You're not responsible for any of this. This was not your fault. Bethany did it. Not you."
He didn't budge. He tried, but his feet wouldn't move. And he felt relieved that she didn't know what he fully thought.
She squeezed his shoulder. "You're a good person, Nick. No matter what you think, I want you to know right here and now that you are the finest person I know."
Tears stung the back of his eyes. She had no idea what those words meant to him just now. Never in his life had anyone ever said anything like that to him. Having grown up on the wrong side of the tracks, nobody ever felt such things or stated them with such conviction.
He spun to face her. The sea of green staring back at him swallow
