Though he’d come in here hoping to convince her that she could do better than him and the insanity of his life, her words cut straight to his heart, reminding him of what they’d had and who they’d been before it all spun out of control.

“Tommy?” Trulo said gently. “What do you think of what Christina said?”

“I think...” He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and fought through the emotional reaction her words had stirred in him. “I’m a lucky man to have someone like her feel that way about me. But what about her? What about what she deserves?”

“Doesn’t she get to decide that?” Trulo asked. “Doesn’t she get to say what works for her and what doesn’t?”

“Yes, of course she does.” Uncomfortable and on the spot to talk about things he’d prefer to keep private, he ran his fingers through his hair, trying to buy himself some time.

“One of the things I preach to people in situations like yours is that crisis is never the time to make big decisions. You’ve been through a lot in the last year. Any one of those things would be enough to test a person’s mettle. Added together they become overwhelming.” Trulo leaned forward. “As hard as it is to believe now, you won’t always feel the loss of AJ as acutely as you do today.”

Gonzo huffed out a breath. “I doubt that.”

“Remember the day you found out about Alex?”

“What about it?”

“Did you feel shocked? Sucker punched? Stunned? Confused? Overwhelmed? Enraged that his mother had kept him from you?”

“All those things and more.”

“Over time, did most of those emotions fade away and leave you with other more manageable feelings about your son?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“It may take a year or two or perhaps even three, but one day you’ll wake up and your first thought won’t be about your murdered partner. Your first thought will be about your son or the woman you love or maybe both of them. When that day comes, I want you to be able to look over in bed and still see the same person lying next to you who you loved before your partner was murdered. I want your son to be sleeping in the next room, hopefully past 6:00 a.m.,” he added with a small smile. “I don’t want you to wake up alone, filled with regret over what you let get away at a time when you were traumatized.”

As much as Gonzo hated to admit it, Trulo’s words made sense. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. But I can’t get past the feeling that I’m being completely unfair to Christina to force her to stick with me while I take years, possibly, to come to terms with Arnold’s death.”