“I know I might’ve gotten a little carried away in the process. With—with the ice. I’m sorry. I promise it won’t happen again.” I promise. For days I’d waited to hear those words, yet now they rang hollow in my ears. Empty. She didn’t understand the meaning of them. Perhaps couldn’t. They implied truth, trust. I doubted she’d ever known either. Still—I wanted to believe her. Desperately. And an apology from her didn’t come lightly. I swallowed against the sudden tightness in my throat. “Thank you.” We stayed quiet for a long time after that.
