Ch. 1: A Stranger in the Rain

If someone had told her a year ago that she would be standing here, she would have laughed.

For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. Ela crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to. Ela crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Ela said. "I'm asking you to listen." Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. "You shouldn't have come," he said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to.

Ela crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to. "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Ela said. "I'm asking you to listen." "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Ela said. "I'm asking you to listen."

She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered.

Every choice had a price. Ela had known that for years, and still the knowing never made it easier.

She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most.

Whatever came next, there would be no pretending it had not begun.