Two hours is a really long time to sit. I mean, one hour is a long time, but two? This second hour feels longer than the first. I never realized how long an hour was until I had to sit here for two of them with absolutely nothing to do but stare across the street at Adam’s building. And God knows how much longer I’m going to be here.

But I’m not moving. I’ll sit here all night if I have to.

I know I look like a complete dick, but I don’t care.

I came here to tell Adam the truth, and that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to wait here until he leaves his building, and then I’m going to force him to hear me out.

I can’t remember the last time I sat for this long. Sure, I sit and watch TV for long periods of time, but I’m watching TV.

The last time I just sat like this and did nothing…was ten years ago—with Adam. We would sit up on my rock or just on the beach, and I would sketch for a while. Then, when I was done sketching, we’d just watch the sun fade into the ocean together, just being together.

Now, I’m sitting here alone, outside his building, and he doesn’t want to see me.

I tilt my head back and stare up at the sky. The clouds are slowly drifting over.

I let myself remember good times, happier times.

There was a time when I wouldn’t allow myself to remember the good times because it hurt too much to do so.

It hurts now, but it’s a pain I’m familiar with.

A shadow falls over me. I drop my gaze, and my eyes meet with Adam’s.

My breath catches. My heart stills.

“You suck at stakeouts,” he says in a low voice that sends chills over my skin. “I could have left the building and walked straight past you, and you wouldn’t have noticed.”

He sits down beside me on the bench. My eyes follow him. My mouth is open.

He’s here.

“Wh-why didn’t you?”

“Well, after two hours of waiting, I figured you must really want to talk to me.”

He was watching me from his building. I don’t know what to make of that. I want to think he hasn’t given up on me completely. But he might after I tell him what I’m here to say.

“I did—do. I do want to talk to you.” I swallow nervously, my mouth as dry as the desert. “And I would have waited for as long as necessary to make that happen.” I need him to know that.

“Well, I’m here now, so talk.”

I take a calming breath, trying to gather my thoughts. I’ve got so many things to say to him, and I want to make sure I get this out right and say everything I need to.

I blow that breath out and start talking, “I lied to you.” I look at him and hold his stare. “That first day in your bungalow at the hotel, you asked me if Ava had anything to do with my leaving, and I said no. That was a lie.”

His expression doesn’t change, but I see the anger flickering to life in his eyes.

He doesn’t say anything. He just continues to steadily stare back at me.

I look ahead, my hands pressed together in my lap, as I keep talking, “That night of your bachelor party, after you left, Ava turned up at the beach house. I didn’t let her in at first. I told her that you’d gone out. She said she wasn’t there to see you. She was there to see me. She told me that she had a proposition for me. I told her that whatever it was she had to say, I definitely wasn’t interested.”

I meet his eyes. I want him to see the truth in mine while I say this, “I was ready to shut the door in her face. Then, she started telling me things. She knew stuff about me, my family…about Casey. She knew that Casey was dying. And she told me there was a way she could help with that.

“There was a medical trial with a new drug, a potentially life-saving drug. It wasn’t available to the general population. It was invitation only. But she told me that she knew people, powerful people, and that she had gotten Casey a place in the trial. What she wanted in return for that place was…” A sudden tear drips from my eye. I quickly catch it. “I had to give you up. She brought annulment papers with her. She’d had them drawn up the day after we’d gotten married.”

I already have his attention, but that garners me more of it. I know what he’s thinking. He didn’t tell her until days later that we were married.

“She knew the moment we got married. Your credit card payment…” I explain.

Dawning settles on his face, but he still doesn’t say anything.

I drag my fingers through my hair, my eyes looking straight ahead again. “Ava told me she would let Casey have that place on the medical trial, and she would pay for any medical aftercare that she needed. In return, I had to leave you.” I look at him again. “It was you or Casey. I didn’t have a choice, Adam.”

Tears start to flow freely, and I let them. I don’t care that we’re out in the open.

“I had to sign the annulment papers. She made me leave my wedding ring behind. I didn’t want to. I wanted to keep something, so I would have…something. But she said I had to hurt you. Apparently, the annulment papers wouldn’t be enough. Then, I had to leave the papers there and go with her. I wasn’t allowed to ever contact you again. I said you would look for me—because I knew I would have looked for you. I guess part of me wanted you to find me…and the other part was scared that, if you did, she would pull the plug on Casey’s treatment. But she said she would make sure that you wouldn’t find me ever. I guess she made good on that promise.

“She had travel already arranged to take me, Casey, and Dad straight to San Francisco. I guess…I guess I was a sure thing. I had to go home and tell Dad while she waited outside. It…wasn’t easy.” I brush away some tears.

“We never told Casey…how we got her on the trial. We just told her that her doctor had gotten her on it. We quickly packed what we needed, and then Ava put us on a private jet at LAX to San Francisco. We were met by someone at the other end. We were put in an apartment near the treatment facility, and Casey started treatment the next day.”

I turn to face him. “You have to know, I never took any of Ava’s money. If she spent any money on Casey’s treatment, I didn’t know about it. And as soon as Casey was given the all-clear, we left the apartment and got our own place. Any follow-up treatment Casey needed was paid for by me and Dad. By that point, I had a full-time job working in a coffee shop.”

“Why didn’t you come back after Casey’s treatment was over?” His voice is even, detached…cold.

My heart stills. “The treatment took a long time. She was on the drugs for six months. It was a year before we got the all-clear. Then, we had to wait for follow-ups. And there was always that fear that it might return. Back then, Ava was my only option to getting Casey the treatment she would have needed if the tumor came back, like it had before. And…when we finally realized it wasn’t coming back…so much time had passed.” Biting down on my lip, I dry my face with my hands and stare down at the pavement beneath my feet. “I wanted to come back…so badly. But I didn’t know how to. I was…scared.”

“Of what?”

“That you wouldn’t be waiting when I came back. That…you’d have moved on.”

He lets out a humorless laugh. “I never did. That was your mistake, Evie.”

“I know that now. But back then, I didn’t. And I know this will sound screwed up, and you might not want to hear this…but part of what kept me away was Ava. It wasn’t fear—well, maybe a little fear.” I laugh a sound much akin to his. “But no matter how I felt about Ava, no matter how much I despised how she’d treated you all your life or what she did to us—how she used my sister dying for her own gain—I…well, I owed her. I still have my sister, living and breathing and healthy, because of Ava. I made a deal with her. I made a deal that I would never tell you the truth…a deal that I’m breaking right now.”

“You make it sound like you’re doing me a fucking favor,” he snaps.