emotions because they’re what make you weak, but I always
knew that was bullshit and that’s not my life anymore. I think
that sometimes we get caught up in thinking of things as black
and white when they’re not like that at all. It’s okay to fall into
the gray areas. And it’s okay to feel things, even if it’s messy
and painful some of the time.”
Adalynn groaned. “You’re being too kind.”
“Oh, no.” Cassia snorted. She looked distinctly amused at
that. “I thought some pretty unkind things last night. I kept
telling myself to keep hoping, that I’d keep fighting, but when
you said you were going to do what you had to do, I thought
that meant, uh, not this.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t make you any promises yesterday. I
didn’t even know what I was going to do. I truly feel bad for
causing you pain. That was a heartless thing to do. I should
have reassured you, but I didn’t even know how to do that for
myself.”
Cassia sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and plied it
with her teeth. She went silent and stayed that way for so long
that Adalynn nearly squirmed in her chair. She felt like she
often had as a child, when her mother’s bleary-eyed, red
rimmed, unfocused gaze would fall on her, full of undeserved
wrath and fury, scolding her for something she hadn’t even
done. Except she’d done this. She deserved every single bit of
Cassia’s annoyance and ire as she worked out her pain and
disappointment.
Adalynn expected to have to grovel. To earn back Cassia’s
trust and start to rebuild that connection between them that
she’d shattered by being so callous the night before. To her
great surprise, though, Cassia didn’t say one thing about that.