I looked at her hand for a long moment before taking it. Her fingers were cold, but they were real.
"I am so sorry, Jasper. For leaving. For hiding him. For stealing years that we cannot get back."
"I can't pretend I'm not angry."
"You shouldn't."
"But I'm here now."
Her face crumpled.
Evan opened the door a few minutes later and froze when he saw our hands joined.
I stood slowly. "Evan, I'm not here to take anything from you. Not your home, not your mother, not the life you know."
He stared at the floor. "Then what do you want?"
I looked at Nina, then back at the son I had met beside a cash register and a pot of bad coffee.
"A chance. Not to erase what happened. Just to know you. If you'll let me."
Evan's jaw tightened. For a second, I thought he would walk away. Instead, he stepped closer and pulled my old photo from his pocket.
