Ch. 15: Storm Warning

There were things Emily had learned never to say aloud, and most of them were about she.

There was a history between them that neither would name, written in the things they did not do. For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. Money could buy a great many things, she had learned, but never the one thing that was wanted most.

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.

For a heartbeat the careful distance between them thinned to nothing at all. "I'm not asking you to forgive me," Emily said. "I'm asking you to listen."

"You shouldn't have come," she said, and the words landed softer than they were meant to. She remembered the first time, and the last, and all the ordinary days in between that had somehow mattered more.

Every choice had a price. Emily had known that for years, and still the knowing never made it easier.

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.

By the time the light faded, nothing was decided, and yet everything felt different.