“Do you?”
She watched the rain. “I did.”
He accepted the answer.
She continued, “Then I thought I’d tell you I never loved you.”
His chest tightened.
“But that would have been a lie,” she said. “And I’m tired of lies.”
Rowan looked down.
Megan’s voice softened. “I loved you very much, Rowan.”
“I know.”
“No,” she said gently. “You know now. You didn’t know then.”
He closed his eyes briefly. “No. I didn’t.”
Silence settled, not empty but full.
“I don’t know what we become,” Megan said.
Rowan nodded. “Neither do I.”
“I can’t go backward.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
She turned to him. “What are you asking?”
He took time before answering.
“The chance to keep showing up,” he said. “For the children. For you, in whatever way you allow. Not because I think time fixes what I did. Because I want to become someone who would never do it again.”
