CHAPTER 88.   Never Alone

　　~ CARA ~

　　…Anything they do to you, they do to me. You don’t have to handle this alone, okay?

　　Those words were mind-boggling to me. I’d ached to hear them my whole life, but now that they were there, hanging in the air between us, it felt like they would be blown away by the slightest breeze.

　　Rig stared at me, waiting for a response. I didn’t know what to say. Wasn’t sure I could say anything. I kept swallowing.

　　I was at work, I reminded myself. This wasn’t the time. But the words were inside me and bubbling for the surface, forcing themselves out—

　　“I’m afraid,” I whispered.

　　Rig’s eyes widened. “Of what? I told you, Cara, I’ll never—”

　　I shook my head. “Not you. I’m scared of me. Scared that I’ll… ruin this somehow. It seems like that always happens. Whenever I find anything good, it goes away. Every time. No one ever stays, Rig. No one. And you’re… look at you!”