He pressed a finger to her lips. “Shh. I don’t want to hear that word cross your lips. It’s me who is sorry. I was an ass. I said despicable things to you.”Her eyes widened, and she felt the ridiculous urge to cry again, as if she hadn’t done enough of that in the last few days.“First, I want to talk about this,” he said as he drew out the dreaded newspaper clipping from his pocket. She froze, her stomach seizing with dread.“Don’t look like that. I don’t believe a word of it. But it’s obviously an important part of your past. It hurt you and it’s affected a good portion of our relationship. I want you to tell me what really happened.”Her lips trembled and she twisted her hands nervously in her lap. “I got out of college, intending to rule the world. I loved it…I loved my job. I was in a big, busy city, and I was away from home, away from my family. At the time that was important to me. I was stupid.”“I think we all go through the desperate need to get away from our family,” Timot