Chapter 11: Claim

I took the chain off the door.

I stepped out onto the stoop in my socks and shut the door behind me.

Leighton stood one step below, which put his eyes level with mine.

"Say what you came to say," I said.

"I'll withdraw the note on your husband's house."

"Why would you do that?"

"I'll leave Jocelyn alone. I'll never come near her again." He took a breath. "I'll do all of it if you divorce him."

The street was quiet.

Somewhere a window slid open.

"You," I said.

"Me. I got it wrong, Audra.

"I spent twelve years looking past you, and you were in my kitchen the whole time."

"I was."

"Then come back to where you were. I'll do it right."

He held out the white rose.

It trembled.

For a moment I felt a thing I hadn't expected, which was sorrow.

I had wanted this once, with my whole girl's heart.

I had wanted it for years.

"Do you know what I did in the first life, when I finally understood you'd never love me?" I said.

"Tell me."

"I made you tea every night. You never drank it. I left it on the desk until it went cold."

His face moved.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Now you're sorry. You're twelve years late."

"I thought you killed her."

"You were wrong for fourteen years, and you never once checked."

I said it without heat.

"I don't want your apology on my husband's doorstep. I want you gone."

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