m Hob

d officer were a muffled roar in my ears, indi

? Are you

familiar. "No. That's impossible. Aa

pathy, but it barely registered. "Mr. Hobbs, we found her sailing bag. Her identification. And this.

t outline of a half-finished bird, its wings spread wide, wa

ice monotone. "There was evidence of a struggle, a broken mast. It appears she m

had been celebrating our award, caught up in the

" Miller stated, "but with the ocean currents and the tim

olo trip, for her birthday. She was looking forward to it. Why would she... why would she go out in a s

ected, his tone a little sharper. "Your emergency contact was Elia Ga

ket, dead. I remembered turning it off, at Elia's insistence. "Just for

winging to Elia, who stood pale and shaky a f

"I... I tried, Graham. But your phone was off. And then... and th

ou knew she was out there! Why didn't you insist I g

face. "You said she wanted to be alone! You said it was her birthday wish! Mayb

anor at the gala, her almost desperate request for a solo trip, her insistence that I go with Elia, freeing me up for other obligations. Her "birthday

at yacht. The storm hitting. Her desperate struggle against the elements, against t

ere, fighting for her life, and I had been reveling in mine. The lucky charm.

d Elia. Every whispered complaint, every suppressed sigh, every lonely night she had spent in our too-big house, while I chased after succ

n morphed into a vacant space where she once stood. The silen

ing a trembling finger at

ock. "Graham, what are you talking

grief and rage. "You! You were always there!

pth of my fury. She turned and fled, her h

erate, frantic need clawed at my chest. I would tear the ocean apart with m

never truly mine. I had simply owned her, like an

find her. I would bring her home. And then, I would spend the rest of

Cran

lieved

rched. F

the wind, a whi

I had never f

ntling of the person I once was. No grand gestures, no dramatic pronouncements. Just a steady, methodical rebuilding, brick by quiet brick. I had prepared