A New Beginning?
He closed the photo and set it down gently. “Can I meet her?”
“I don’t know,” Elise said honestly. “That’s not up to me. It’ll take time.”
Jason nodded slowly. “I’ll wait. As long as it takes.”
He looked toward the other table. Clarissa was now texting furiously, clearly frustrated. The violinist played on, oblivious to the unraveling of a man’s life.
Jason stood.
“I’m ending things with her,” he said.
Elise looked skeptical. “Because of guilt?”
“No,” he said. “Because I just realized I haven’t been living. I’ve been hiding. And if there’s even a sliver of a chance to be a father—to start over—I’m not wasting it.”
He turned, took two steps, and then stopped.
“Thank you,” he said softly. “For showing me the mirror I refused to face.”
