The tears slipped down my cheeks but I didn't wipe them away, just clutched the steering wheel, my knuckles white. I knew West was angry. But I was pissed, too. He'd been supportive through the last couple of weeks but the weight of everything still sat squarely on my shoulders. He'd tried to help, over and over again, but there was nothing he could do because the decision was ultimately mine to make. And that's what he didn't get. I knew he would listen, knew he would agree with whatever I decided to do. I knew he'd offer up guarded opinions—he'd already done this—but I needed someone neutral, someone on the outside, to talk things over with. It couldn't be Tana and it couldn't be my sister and it couldn't be West. It needed to be someone I didn't know. And I needed to do it alone. The parking lot was already half-full and, for some reason, this surprised me. I'd driven by the office countless times over the years but I'd never really noticed it.
