Cole

straightened up, her expression once again a mask of polite warmth

ds curled into fists in my lap, my nails digging into my palms. I saw Ethan glance at me, a

e said, turning to Olivia, his voice warm with a hospitality he hadn't shown

g near the small of her back. He had already forgotten I was there,

ollowed them. The sight of them walking side-by-side through the sliding gl

rving familiarity. She walked directly to a polished mahogany cabinet,

r voice bright as she began preparing the tea, her movements

eclaration of it. She was reminding him, and showin

augh. "You remember." It wasn't a conf

shrinking with every passing second. I was his wife, a

o me, her eyes wide with feigned realization. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Sarah. Pre

neatly separate me from them, to place me in

rittle smile fixed on my face. "Tha

e suffocating atmosphere they had created. I felt Ethan's eyes on my back, a flicke

s that my

on back to the living room. Daisy was pointing at a large

ed a much prettier one in this very room, didn't you?" She looked up at Ethan, her eyes shining with nostalgia. "Do

s he looked at the little girl. "I reme

ntimate moment that erased me and

ike that, a perfect little family caught in a bubble of shared hi

way from the sofa where they sat as I c

tual friends I'd never met, trips they'd taken to places I'd only seen in magazines. Eve

ugh, to add his own details to her stories. I felt like I was watching a home mo

livia stood up. "I should get Daisy to the g

to rise. "I'll

, stopping him with a light touch on his ar

e husband. But as she turned, her eyes met mine over his should

room after she left was colder and heavier than t

art a cold, heavy stone in my chest. Just as she disappear

t from an un

re were no words

st. The one Olivia had given him. Ben

won? You're jus