My chest tightens and a lump forms in my throat. I blink away the tears that burn. I will not let that motherfucker make me cry.

“He left you to fend for yourself in a world much crueler than I could ever have imagined.” His voice is quiet, shameful. Loaded with regret.

I don’t want to hear it but I can’t escape it.

“You were just a kid, Nathaniel.” I try to give him the same grace he’s given me over the years but fuck if that’s not a hard one to swallow.

“So were you,” he says quietly. “And I was your big brother. I was supposed to protect you, and I didn’t.” His voice cracks, and he pushes off the bench, needing to move, to shake off the weight of his words.

Much like I do when emotions become too much.

I watch him, my chest aching. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because it eats at me every time I see you. Because I note your animosity toward me, and as much as I hate it, I think it should be a hundred times worse. You were just a kid stuck taking care of a severely mentally ill woman. That’s not right.”

“It is what it is.” I shrug but my usual go-to response feels hollow.

Nathaniel nods, his jaw tight. “Maybe next time you go to the shelter, you’ll tell me. I’d like to see her.”

Bitterness rises in my throat. I’ve put in the work. The hours. The pain. Why does he get to step in now?

“We’ll see,” I murmur.

“I understand,” he says quietly.

I hesitate, then murmur, “Thank you.”

“For?”

“You didn’t take care of me before, but you keep trying to now.”

He nods subtly. “It’s the least I can do.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever said thank you.”

Nathaniel exhales, shaking his head with a small smile. “Yeah, well . . . don’t get all sentimental on me.”

I snort, shaking my head as I push to my feet. His words are ringing in my head, though.

“This is why I became a lawyer. Because of you. To fight for people who didn’t have a voice.”

It’s not the first time I’ve seen Nathaniel show his heart toward me. But maybe it’s the first time I didn’t walk away from it and ignore him. He’s tried over the years to help, to talk, to heal, and it never felt possible.