Ch. 1: A Stranger in the Rain

The letter had arrived without a name, and that was the first thing that frightened her.

She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. Ela 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. The conversation turned, the way conversations do, from the easy things to the ones that mattered. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more.

Money could buy a great many things, he had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most. "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Ela said. "I'm asking you to listen."

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

She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more. Ela 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.

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