“I don’t know what I want,” she admitted. It cost her something to say it.
“That’s allowed.”
“I keep thinking if I just go back to before. Before any of this. Maybe it stops.”
“Maybe.” His voice was gentle. “Or maybe whoever’s doing this doesn’t care whether you and I are close. Maybe they’ve been watching you for longer than either of us realized, and I’m not the cause I’m just the thing that made it visible.” He held her gaze. “I don’t know which of those is true. But I don’t think you should make a decision this big based on the one you’re most afraid of, instead of the one that’s actually true.”
The wind moved through the trees along the path. Somewhere a door opened and closed, voices and warmth spilling out briefly before fading.
“I should go inside,” she said. Not because she
