“It wasn’t your fault. Nobody thinks that it was.”

“Well, I do. I just don’t think I’ll ever get over it.”

“Emma, he was a bad guy.”

“So he deserved to die? I could’ve chosen to shoot him in the leg or tackle him. But I didn’t. I killed a person.”

He looked at her for a long moment before speaking. “Every cop dreads the thought of taking a life. You know that. We had training on that.”

“Well training and real life are very different, Steve. And you’ve never taken a life, so you have no idea. You might’ve been there that night, but you didn’t have to pull the trigger.” The reality was that she resented him for sending her in first. He thought he was giving her the gift of solving a big case, but she felt like he threw her into the national spotlight in one swift motion.

“I know, honey, and I wish it had been me. I wish that I could take that weight off of you, but I can’t. And if you would just see the counselor…”

She held up her hand. “I don’t want to see a counselor. There is no counselor who can tell me how to feel. I’m the one going through it! I don’t want to talk about this anymore or think about this anymore. I just want to move on with my life.“

“I don’t understand. Why would you come to this little island where you don’t know anybody?”

“That’s exactly the reason why I’m here. I wanted a new job and new friends. I just can’t go back. I needed to become a new version of myself, and it’s working for me. I’m happy here. Well, as happy as I can be right now.“

He looked stunned. “How can you say that? We’ve been together for three years. We had plans, Emma. We were going to retire from the force together in a few years and travel. We were talking about opening our own security company.”

She felt bad for him. He was so torn up inside, and she just wasn’t. She felt almost nothing. She had loved him once, but now when she looked at him all she saw was her old life and she just couldn’t conjure up romantic feelings anymore. She walked over to her purse and opened the inside zipper, pulling out her engagement ring. She handed it to him.

“I release you, Steve. You need to find somebody who wants those same dreams with you. I don’t ever want to go back there. I don’t ever want to be a police officer again, and I don’t want to start at a security company. I’m happy right here on this little island running this lighthouse.”

He stared at the ring for a long moment before finally taking it from her hand. “You can’t run forever, Em. How can you be happy living such a small life like this?”

She smiled slightly. “Just because it’s a small life doesn’t mean it’s not a fulfilling one. People here are just different. I can be myself, my real self, the one that I’ve been hiding my whole life. I can be a part of a community, and I don’t have to be scared. I don’t have to be on the defensive. I can just relax and do what I love. I can follow whatever dreams I have right here. I already have friends.”