Sophie kept her gaze on the window at the end of the hall. “You don’t owe me this.”

“Maybe not.” I lowered myself into the chair beside her. “But I owe you more than disappearing.”

Her eyes shimmered; she blinked the tears away. “You made it clear you wanted a life without me.”

“I thought I did.”

“That isn’t an answer.”

“No,” I said. “It’s the beginning of one.”