Juniper put her phone back into her purse and turned her gaze toward the window. Her heart was racing in a way she had never experienced that she couldn't quite name.
"You good, June?" Denzel asked.
"No," she whispered, finally turning to meet his gaze. "He's dying. I saw it. And I feel bad about it. I mean, I truly thought it wouldn't affect me. But seeing how pale he was... I realized he's in pain. He looked like he was drowning in regret."
She gripped the strap of her purse, her knuckles turning white. "He threw me out of that family instead of protecting me. I shouldn't care. I don't want to care about a man who abandoned me when I needed him most."
Denzel kept his eyes on the road. "It's human to care for the people you were once connected to, June. It's hard to truly hate your parents; that's never an easy feat, no matter what they've done."
He reached out, briefly placing a hand over hers on the center console before returning it to the wheel.
