“You’re allowed to
be both.”
She looked at me.
“I’m learning that.”
The quiet between us was not empty. It was full of everything we had not yet said.
“I failed you,” I said.
Emma exhaled softly, as if she had expected the words and dreaded them too.
“Daniel—”
“No. I need to say it without turning it into something you have to comfort me through.” I looked at my hands. “I trusted people because it was easier than checking. I accepted explanations because they let me keep moving. I told myself building a future for us was the same as being present in our life.”
Her eyes softened, but she did not interrupt.
“I don’t expect forgiveness tonight,” I continued. “Or soon. I just need you to know I’m done being absent.”
Emma looked toward the hallway, where distant voices moved through the house.
“When you walked into the outdoor kitchen,” she
