Ch. 15: Storm Warning

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

The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Emily said. "I'm asking you to listen."

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Emily said. "I'm asking you to listen." "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Emily said. "I'm asking you to listen."

"I'm not asking you to forgive me," Emily said. "I'm asking you to listen." The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all.

For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do.

Emily crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way she was watching without seeming to. Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most.

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

For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered.

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. There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do.

She did not sleep that night. There was too much to lose, and far too much to want.