Shuffling down the hall drew Sharon's attention away from the paperwork spread over her desk, but she didn't look up until she was addressed.

"Sharon... I'm really, really sorry."

"You're up late. I thought you went to bed."

"I did, but I couldn't sleep. I... I'm sorry."

Finally she looked up and smiled faintly. "You already apologized, Honey. You can let it go, I'm not mad."

"Yeah, but you should be," Rusty said, sitting himself down on the edge of the sofa.

"Why?" Sharon asked, sitting back in her chair and pulling her cardigan closer around her before crossing her arms.

"Why? I was way out of line. It's not my place to say anything about Jackson."

"You know... you haven't even asked about him once since he left. Weren't you curious about why he was suddenly here and now he's gone?"

Rusty looked uncomfortable and he clasped his hands together. "I... I just thought you'd had enough and sent him away again."

Sharon nodded her understanding, and pursed her lips as she thought of an answer. "I can see that," she said to no one in particular. "I was fed up... about a lot of things. I don't like the way he ignores our children. I don't like his assumptions that he can just fit back into my life as if he never left. And I didn't like what he was teaching you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You have enough to struggle with in your life. You don't need to add gambling and manipulation to your load."

"We're not going to have a conversation about counseling again, are we?" he asked deflated, falling back onto the sofa.

"No," Sharon shook her head, "I wasn't even going to mention that. I was talking about why you felt the need to exaggerate your life as a witness. You really scared Kris' parents, you know, and I'm not sure I understand why."

Rusty looked uncomfortable, "It... it's complicated."

"Try me..."

Getting up from the sofa and pacing, Rusty ran his hand through his hair and then turned to Sharon with a pleading expression on his face, "I don't want to hurt her. I just don't want to be anything more than friends."

"That's fine, Rusty. So why didn't you tell her that?"

"I dunno... I was going to, but Jack said I should play up being a witness, and then her parents would stop it."

"Jack? Jack gave you advise like that and you took it?" Sharon knew the edge had crept into her voice, but she couldn't help it.

"It sounded right at the time," Rusty sounded weak in response.

"Rusty, Jack best skill in life is avoiding responsibility and trying to make it someone else's problem. You avoided responsibility and gave it to Kris' parents. There's no honesty in that. It's manipulation. You are better than that."

"If Jack is such a bad guy, then why don't you just divorce him?" Rusty sounded more defensive.

"It's not that easy, Rusty. Jackson and I had our entire lives intertwined for years, and that is very hard to undo. I've done most of the work, but it took me a long time and I'm not completely finished."

Rusty sat down again, and slumped back in the sofa, "But if you don't love him, then why not just make it a clean break?"

"Who says I don't love him?"

"But... you sent him away, and you made him sleep on the sofa and get his own place."

"Honey, just because I don't want to be in a relationship with him doesn't mean I don't love him. It's about self-preservation. I can't be drawn back into his world. I can't be his caretaker, his excuse maker. I spent too many years doing that."

"I don't understand."

"Rusty, feelings are complicated, that why you need to be honest right from the beginning. Playing games or looking for excuses only makes things worse. Most of my career I've had to force people to be honest, and yes it's hard work for them to get back on their feet, but if they had only started that way they never would have been in trouble in the first place. I might not divorce Jackson, but I won't lie to him or about him either. Jack left because I needed to solve a murder and he was standing in the way. He knew crucial evidence that we needed, and not only did he withhold it, but he tried to make me look bad in the process. In the end I turned the tables on him. He couldn't deal with it, so he ran away. I didn't send him away. And this isn't the first time. By telling you to give an excuse rather than the truth, he was teaching you to be untrustworthy. That's not a life I want for you."

"Don't you trust me?"

Sharon nodded, "Yes Honey, I do, but can Kris? Can her parents? Jack did not give you good advise."

'How do I make this right?"

"You know how to do that."

"No, Sharon, I don't."

"Yes, you do. You're just trying to avoid making it painful, and there is no way around that, I'm afraid."

Rusty sat in silence for a long time while Sharon contemplated him. Finally he spoke.

"Sharon, did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?"

"When Jack left. Did it hurt?

"It always hurts."