e's

aintly in my ears, but it was Andrew's proposition that refused to let

ont

rgical. Wounding. And the worst part? It tempted me. Andrew had walked me back to the su

elevator ride. My though

door, h

Jane." His voice was soft, a thread

where to

sagged against it, as if the room itself might collapse under the weight I carrie

and too bright, washing over me like an interrogation. I r

it sloshed over the rim. I took a deep gulp, then another. My lips were al

ache in my chest. It only

hell wa

illow. Maybe I cried. Maybe I just laid there b

ut my mind was drowning-dragged unde

e lies. Th

red like sin in a dark boo

cross the room. My vision blurred, cleared, blurr

brac

t damned

I saw it. I felt it. A small, twisted remi

oman Nathan had touched

inning sideways in a lazy spiral. I la

se I wa

t that-the way he touched her

would be the end. The end of the

wrong. So

for balance. When I picked the bracelet up, it was ic

The pattern. The clasp. It tugged at Something about the bracelet tugge

e, full-force, like a bad a

een it

I worn i

foggy mind, refusing to let go.

ump

the half-empty wine glass, the vi

li

ai

lt like I was dreaming again-like the alcohol had conjure

ub. But the line cut. When I called back, it r

was blinking

creen. My heart stuttered. W

ed her

tive, breathy, like a child

" A long silence stretched between us.

of ease I hadn't known in weeks. Café Brago sat nestled in the corner, with jasmine hanging from the tr

blouse. Pale denim. Sunglasses perched atop a chestnu

ike it didn't quite belong on her face. "Jane," she breathed. I didn't speak at first. I just stared. Four ye

to remember that I had family. That something once broken might not be shattered. W

.." she tr

led faintly. "Stronger." "Y

that sounds like a

were back," I said. "I t

Barcelona. But I came

inked. "You didn

did. A thousand time

'm sorry about your marriage," she said af

up to hers. "Y

you don't want t

came home early from a trip and c

The straw in her d

he said, softer n

it was?" I shook my head. "She ran. Al

the tiniest bit. I reached i

somehow, like betrayal had

ed her face for any

was a long b

er voice just above a

t it," I muttered, slipp

w things fell apart between us after Dad's funeral. It was strange.

checked h

o," she sai

She looked up. "I

almost didn't. But I co

ry w

ips p

hesi

th

acelet

spered. "In the house. T