I owed myself that clarity, finally.

And I owed it to Hazel most of all, so that someday, if she ever asked, I could tell her the exact truth about what her father chose when the choice was placed clean in his hands.

Chapter 16 — The Doors Slid Open

“Liam, come on.

Let’s go,” Brenda said again, and she tugged at his arm, gently, steering him toward the exit, the way you’d guide someone who might otherwise lose their nerve.

Liam looked at me one last time.