“It’s one reason.”
“I didn’t know.”
“No.”
“It wouldn’t excuse it if I had.”
“No.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
She looked toward Molly’s photograph.
“I’m not telling you to make you feel worse.”
“That part was already handled.”
“That’s your responsibility.”
“Fair.”
“I’m telling you because my life isn’t simple either.”
“I never thought it was.”
“You knew me for four days.”
“I knew there was more than you were saying.”
Ellie’s eyes returned to mine.
The connection was still there.
So was the damage.
“What do you want from me?” she asked.
I had prepared several answers.
None survived the question.
“Another conversation.”
“That’s all?”
“No.”
She waited.
“I want the chance to show you more than the version who arrived on the island and hid behind a bad hat.”
“It was a very bad hat.”
“I was vulnerable.”
“You were branded by a golf resort.”
“I’d like another day with you eventually. One where you know who you’re spending it with.”
