Chapter 14

I spent my days curled up on the window seat, watching the snow fall. Nathan would try to engage, but I could barely muster the energy to respond. The silence felt safer than whatever this twisted reality had become.

“What would make you happy?” he asked one evening, his voice dripping with false concern.

I glanced up from my book. “I miss Lucy. Could I see her?”

He smiled that practiced smile. “You’re still recovering. Why not have her visit instead?”

My heart skipped – a possibility I hadn’t dared hope for. “Really?”

He brushed my hair back, a gesture that once brought comfort but now made my skin crawl. “Anything for you,

sweetheart.”

True to his word, he brought Lucy up the mountain the next day.

She rushed to hug me, her warmth so familiar it hurt. “Emma! God, so this is where you’ve been hiding – some fancy

mountain retreat!”

her tight, joy and terror

while I was trying to slip her my carefully folded note,

the undercurrent. “Dad’s so excited, he convinced the whole family to go

us!” She laughed, the sound echoing off the high ceilings. “Or we’re completely ruined!”

smile never wavered. “Of course

was

me, all warmth and concern. “Isn’t it nice having friends visit,

I nodded mechanically.

days later, he brought Sarah.

you were hooked up to

gambling father, brother in prison, autistic son. Her salary kept them afloat.

risk it. Not

Our laughter carried across the grounds – probably the only genuine sound this

06:49

Years of Love, Seven Minutes

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