Having them now did not mean the years of grief would stand down and leave him alone. He guessed the opposite was closer to the truth. Having them brought it all back. Even when he wasn’t thinking about the past, he was forced to think about the future, forced to grieve all that would never be. Elin was never going to walk through the door and take him back. Kate was never going to forgive him. He would have to learn how to give all that up, hand it in once and for all, in exchange for all that suddenly was.
