“You were.”
“I suppose that’s fair.”
I clenched my hands to stop myself from reaching for her. “Only because I pushed you too far away.”
Scanning the letter again, she bit her bottom lip. “Maybe I’m overreacting. I guess I used to say that a lot.”
I nodded. “Which is on me because you were just echoing the excuses I made in my futile attempt to keep the peace at work. I allowed boundaries to blur because it was easier than enforcing them. I chose comfort over protecting what we had. I should have recognized that much sooner.”
“Not just you. My parents and sister, too.” Her throat moved as she swallowed. “It really hurt when I stopped believing you’d listen. You were supposed to be my safe place. My person.”
Her whispered admission hit harder than anything I’d written in the letter. She wasn’t even trying to hurt me, only telling the truth. “That only makes what I did worse.”
“You were very detailed in your examples.”
I didn’t reply because there wasn’t anything I could come up with that wouldn’t sound like I expected her gratitude when I was trying to give her honest accountability for the ways I had let her down.
Lila turned another page, reading more. I sat quietly, letting her absorb what I’d written without interruption.
She finally reached the last example of my failures. “You’d start a conversation about something that bothered you, then tell me it wasn’t important before I could respond.”
I nodded. “I thought we were resolving things, but looking back, it was probably one of the early signs you were starting to give up. And I had my head shoved so far up my ass, I missed it.”
“That’s new.”
My brows drew together. “What?”
“Your self-deprecating humor.”
“Ahh.” I crossed one leg over the other, resting my ankle loosely on my upper thigh. “Yeah, therapy has definitely been eye-opening.”
“Did your therapist also tell you that you didn’t need to wear socks with your suits anymore?”
It took a moment for her teasing tone to register. I shook my head with a sheepish smile. “No, I just need to catch up on laundry, same as you. I’m down to the low-cut liners you always hated. Found them shoved in the back of a drawer the other day.”
“Maybe you should’ve bought some new ones instead of going to Erewhon yesterday.”
Shit.She knew.
Clocking the expression on my face, she explained, "My mother called me."
“Dammit.” I raked my fingers through my hair. “That was the last thing I wanted.”
“Yeah, she wasn’t kind when she told me what happened, but I have to admit I enjoyed her ire being turned on you too.” She folded the letter and set it in her lap. “Was confronting my parents and Sienna something your therapist suggested?”
“No, it wasn’t,” I answered honestly. “That was something I chose to do on my own. I talked about it in therapy afterward and realized I had never stood up for you before. Not when it counted.”
“I appreciate it.”
The simple words shouldn’t have felt like a victory. But they did.
“Now that you’ve finished reading the letter, I should go.” I stood slowly. “Thank you for letting me come in and for listening.”
Lila remained seated, the letter still in her lap. “I accept your apology, but I’m not ready to forgive you yet.”
I nodded, respecting the clear boundary she had set. “I understand.”
As I walked out the door, I had to admit she’d already given me far more than I deserved.
