Dental office.
She stood.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Can we talk?”
I looked at Luis.
He gave me a subtle nod and moved farther down the bar.
I sat opposite her.
Tessa folded her hands.
“I’m not asking for money.”
“That’s a strong opening.”
She almost smiled.
Then didn’t.
“I know you probably think I’m horrible.”
“I think you did horrible things.”
She absorbed that.
“Fair.”
I waited.
She looked toward the window.
“I was really angry at you.”
“I noticed.”
“And Clare.”
“I noticed that too.”
“I told myself she took you away from us.”
“She didn’t.”
“I know.”
That surprised me.
Tessa rubbed her thumb against the edge of a paper napkin.
“When Mom and Dad moved, I thought everything would go back to normal somewhere else.”
“What does that mean?”
“That they’d get another place and I’d live there.”
I said nothing.
