Page 81 of Beneath the Desert Bloom
She smiled without warmth. “None of your business.”
And then, just because it felt honest:
“But I wasn’t alone.”
He flinched like she’d slapped him.
“You… you’re serious?”
“You came all the way out here because you were afraid I was in danger, and you’re upset because someone touched me?”
“Nora—”
“No, really, Eli. What did you think I was out here pining for? The ghost of my thesis? The ghost ofyou?”
His jaw tightened. “You don’t have to do this.”
She exhaled, arms folding.
“I’m not doing anything to you. I’m just finally being honest with myself.”
He looked at her for a long moment.
“You’re not who you were.”
“No,” she said, quieter now. “I’m not.”
He nodded slowly, eyes scanning the space like he might find her former self folded in a corner. “I guess I never really knew who you were, Nora. Not all the way.”
She didn’t argue. Just let the truth of that settle between them.
“I wanted to be easy to love,” she said softly. “That was part of the problem.”
Eli’s shoulders dropped a little. “You were never hard to love. Just… hard to keep.”
She offered the barest smile, not unkind. “That’s because I wasn’t supposed to be kept.”
A silence opened, gentler now.
She walked past him to the door and opened it slowly, the hinges sighing in the quiet.
“I’m sorry, Eli. I really am,” she said. “But I’m not the girl you remember. And I can’t be the one you’re still trying to save.”
He nodded once, eyes stinging more than he expected.
“Thank you for saying that.”
“Take care of yourself, Eli.”
He hesitated.
“You too. For real.”
She stood in the doorway as he stepped out into the sunlight.
For a second, they just looked at each other. Two people who had once tried, and maybe even meant it.
Then she gave a small nod.
