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"Relieved"

"What?" It’s a stupid question because I heard perfectly hat she said It’s a stall tactic on my part

"I’m relieved, Ethan"

"Why aren’t you-"

"Do you kno many people there have been in my life who I cared about or who cared aboutit’s two, but know for sure it’s one - herup LouAnne I just squeeze her hand, which I’ onto like the piece of wood Leonardo DiCaprio was holding onto after his exit from the Titanic

"Two, Ethan Two"

Now I’m relieved

"And one of them can’t ever come back, but you did You came back and I don’t care where you went or what you did You are here now, safe"

The tremble in her voice as she says, "what you did," tells ht have done, so I hope I’m about to put her fears to rest

"I just drove and slept inI did was think about you and howyou I didn’t take your safety or well-being into account and for that, I’m sorry You should be upset with htout a way to tell ht or the next ie came by and said you hadn’t shown up for work"

So, this is how Margie knows about Emily

"I wasn’t really sure how much she knew, but I could tell she was surprised to find hly you speak of her and how ave on the car Then I lostraduation" Emily pauses and smiles, then looks down as if she’s a little eain It reminded me a little ofto the house She said she cried for a little bit because she didn’t knohat to do, that she’d been relying onShe didn’t knohat she would do if I didn’t coie asked her about a job and what she liked to do It seems they went to the public library and Emily applied for a position She can work there part-ti and that’s why she caot her a bus pass and rode with her the first time to make sure it was safe

There isn’t a bouquet of flowers big enough for Margie right now