Ch. 8: An Unexpected Guest

The morning came in grey and quiet, the way it always did before everything changed.

"You shouldn't have come," he said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. Emily crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to.

There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do.

"You shouldn't have come," he said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. Emily crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to.

The past was not a place you could visit and leave unchanged. It followed you home.

Money could buy a great many things, he 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 he was watching without seeming to.

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