"Your mother scares me," Marcus said.
"She should," Nia said. "She's a Hayes. We don't bluff."
He smiled. Then the smile faded. "Do you ever wish you'd married someone more careful with truth?"
"I married you," Nia said. "Careful isn't the same as honest. I wish I'd married the version of you that asks for help before the water reaches the lungs. I'm staying to meet that version. If he doesn't show up, that's a different conversation for a different year."
Marcus turned the mug in his hands. "He's trying to show up."
"I see him," Nia said. "Some days."