Ch. 5: The First Lie

He noticed her before she noticed him, which was usually how the worst trouble began.

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. 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. Emily crossed the room slowly, aware of every step, of the way he was watching without seeming to.

The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. "You shouldn't have come," he said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most.

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

The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. "You shouldn't have come," he said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered.

Tomorrow would ask its questions. Tonight, she let herself simply breathe.