36 Chapter 36

"I can't say I'm not hurt by all of this. But I'm stronger than you think, Reed. I wish you would have told me all of this and let me make my own choice."

He grasped my hands and squeezed them as if they were his lifeline and he was a drowning man. I understood if that was how he felt at this moment because I felt the same as I looked into his eyes.

"I know you are, little one. One thing I have never doubted, even when I met you three years ago, was how strong and courageous you are. It's killing me to know that I have hurt you at all," he said.

His eyes caressing every section of my face as if it would be the last time that he saw me and he wanted to remember every inch of it. The ache of loss that had just started to go away came back as I realized he was intending to say goodbye to me. I pulled my hands away from his and folded them in my lap. I was afraid that if they were free, I would grab him and beg him not to leave.