“Don’t cry,” he said softly as he fell into step beside her. “I’m definitely not worth that.”

That was true. She slowed down.

Except it wasn’t true, even if she was angry at him. She hated that he thought that about himself—back then and now. That he wasn’t worth people’s tears, or loyalty.

“Look.” His voice sounded tired. Resigned. “I’m sorry I hurt you. Know that I did it because I—” His voice cracked. “Because I loved you. If I made a mistake, it was because I loved you.”

She’d reached the edge of the playground. She stopped walking. Because she couldn’t walk anymore. It was all she could do not to double over. Everything she’d believed was wrong.

“I didn’t come back here for ten years because of what happened. What I thought happened. I missed out on so much of Lucille’s life.”

“I am sorry about that. I didn’t…think through all the consequences of what I was doing.”

Had that been his fault, though? Or hers?

Or some combination of the two?

She sighed. “We should have…”

“Talked about it. Instead of me deciding to arrange things so you would leave, we should have talked about it.”

“Well, we did. Kind of.”

“But did we really?”

He was right. They had argued, but that had consisted mostly of them stating their positions. There hadn’t been a lot of discussion about what was in their hearts. About fear and worthiness and regret. “I know that this is a lot to take in,” he said. “And I know you probably need some time, but I was hoping that since you’re going to be in town for a year…” His voice had gone scratchy, and he paused to clear his throat. “I was hoping we could be friends.”

“Friends?” she echoed dumbly. Well, what had she expected? Loved was a past-tense word.

“Well, or at least not not-friends.”

“Not not-friends?” Was she a parrot?

But more importantly, was this it? Her chance at exorcism? She thought about what Maya had said about cutting Sawyer down to size. She had imagined it more like watching him over the year and coming to realize she hadn’t missed out on anything after all.

Maybe it wasn’t about exorcising him so much as it was about forgiving him.

And maybe also forgiving herself? For letting him keep her away from her aunt and the lake and the town that she had loved so much?

She looked at him. Hard. He looked so different with the beard. He looked so grown up. But she could still see the kid Sawyer inside. The kid who had always tried to do the right thing, even at great cost to himself.

Something unclenched in her gut. It felt like…relief?

Exorcism complete?