She drove away.
A cloud of dust whirled behind her car, which quickly disappeared among the trees. The whispered remnants of her words and the inescapable sense that I had just made a mistake haunted me.
She didn’t get it yet.
She didn’t understand that expectations led to disappointment and, ultimately, heartbreak. In the end, she’d be better off without me failing her. The way I had constantly failed Dad, which led to his ultimate demise.
The right thing had never felt so awful.