How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

Jarrod really did change rooms. Now, so early in the morning, he and Sylvie were coming and going together. There was no doubt they'd spent the whole night in the same room.

Elodie suddenly felt sick to her stomach.

She turned away from the two of them, slipped back into her room, and rushed to the bathroom, trying to throw up—anything, just to get rid of that nauseous feeling.

But nothing came up.

Her appetite had been terrible lately. Maybe things were even worse for her than she'd realized.

Elodie stared at her pale, hollow-eyed reflection in the mirror, a chill crawling up her spine.

People are so fragile, she thought.

At least she could be grateful she'd woken up before things became truly irreversible.

She still had time to become herself again.

With a determined breath, Elodie touched up her makeup, determined not to look so worn out.

She asked the innkeeper to arrange a car to take her back down the mountain. Just then, her grandmother called.

was a stern, no-nonsense woman. With Elodie's grandfather gone early, Rosemary had poured all her energy into raising

grew even more quiet-except when it

cleared her throat before answering,

asked, her tone gentle for someone usually

chest. "I'm eating

these will keep you warm. When

flickering in her eyes. "Grandma, you really don't have to go through all that

life isn't easy for you, married into a family like his. There's not much I can do to help, so I do what I can. Be good to Jarrod, all right? If he has any conscience, he'll

corner of her eyes with her fingertip. "He's just... been really busy lately,

missing a beat. "Can

Rosemary had seen Elodie and Jarrod together, and she

considered it and finally agreed, "Alright.

realized Jarrod should be the one to talk to her grandmother about the

grandmother, even the biggest problems had to

truth-that Jarrod had cheated. It would only upset her and take a toll on her health. Better to find a gentler explanation, to say they just

Jarrod needed to

Elodie left her room and walked down the hall

it was