me to stay?”
“No, I just meant—”
But he couldn’t finish.
I left Zion that night.
But I didn’t leave Valerie.
She had done nothing to me.
She hadn’t betrayed me.
And I refused to punish a dying woman for something her son had done.
So I kept taking care of her.
Neither Zion nor I told her about the affair.
At least, I thought she didn’t know.
Of course, Valerie noticed something had changed.
One afternoon, we were sitting in her sunroom while I made tea.
She watched me