“Not yet,” she said.
Liam didn’t insist. That was another lesson, because forgiveness has no calendar.
It is not required. It doesn’t accelerate.
It is not used to cleanse the conscience of the one who caused harm. It’s expected, if it arrives, and if it doesn’t arrive, that’s respected.
The last time Liam passed the old apartment, he stopped across the street. He looked up at the third floor.
The balcony already had new curtains and different plants. Another family lived there, perhaps laughing, eating dinner, and arguing about small things, unaware that in that place a woman had felt the world was expelling her.
Liam lowered his gaze. Nora was waiting for him in the car.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He got in and took the wheel. “Yes,” he replied. “I was just remembering how fragile a house can be when we fill it with suspicion.”
