“I came to help.”
She spun around.
“Sarah?”
“Do you mind?”
She shook her head and stepped aside, letting Sarah into the narrow space that wasn’t made for two people.
“I think that should do it for now,” Lizzie said after a while.
Sarah cleared her throat. “Wait. I need to say this.”
Lizzie stopped. This should be interesting.
“I was wrong. About everything. The way I treated you that morning. Leaving you money like that.” Sarah’s voice shook. “I’m so ashamed. You weren’t a transaction. You were never that. But I made you feel like one and I hate myself for it.”
“Sarah, don’t…”
“Let me finish. Please.” Sarah took a breath. “You terrified me. The way I felt about you. The way you made me feel. I’ve spent so long protecting myself. Building walls. Making sure nobody could get close enough to hurt me. And you just walked right through them like they were nothing.”
The storage room felt even smaller now. Just the two of them and years of Sarah’s defenses crumbling.
“So I hurt you instead. Pushed you away before you could hurt me. Before you could see all the messy, broken parts I keep hidden.” Sarah wiped her eyes. “But being here with you these past two days. Watching you. Working with you. The way you handled everything tonight. I don’t want to keep pretending I don’t feel this.”
“Feel what, Sarah?”
Sarah stepped closer.
“That I’m falling in love with you.”
Lizzie forgot how to breathe. The words hung between them, impossible and perfect.
“I know I don’t deserve another chance. I know I hurt you. But I’m asking anyway.”
Lizzie should say no. Should protect herself. She’d spent days crying about this woman after all. But she’d been miserable without her.
“If I give you another chance, you can’t do that again. You can’t push me away when you get scared.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
“How do I know that?”
Sarah stepped closer. “Because I’m done hiding. Done protecting a reputation built on lies.” Sarah reached up and touched Lizzie’s face. “Billy would want me to be happy. And you make me happy.”
Lizzie looked at her. At this version of Sarah she’d never seen before. Raw. Open. Completely honest.
“Okay.”
“Really?”
Lizzie nodded.
Sarah kissed her. Soft at first, tentative, like she was testing whether this was real. Then Lizzie kissed back and Sarah whimpered before she could stop herself. The kiss deepened. Became something desperate and hungry and full of promise.
Sarah broke away long enough to close the door. The lock clicked. She pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight, propping it on a shelf so it cast shadows across the small room.
“Is that a good idea? We have limited chargers.”
