. Her head was heavy, and her limbs ached. She took a long, hot s

the absence of Brendan and Chloie a strange kind of peace. She no longer listened for his

, confirming her flight details and th

her calendar.

l eighteenth birthday present

cted a donation service to pick up the furniture and decorations i

e asked, his voice shar

orm and thanked the men, waiting for t

ome old things," she

calmness seemed to unnerve him. He felt a strange sense of loss watch

he said suddenly. "We'll be

That's good. The hou

n, but she offered nothing more. He started t

her voice quiet. It would be the tenth birthday they would have spent t

turning around. He zipped his bag and walked out, the click

and the corners of

pulled open the bottom drawer of her desk. It

back was one thing she

. Brendan sleeping, Brendan reading, Brendan laughing. Each ima

mise he'd made, written in her ow

these memories, scrape

rthday, she drew a picture of the two of them together. This year, s

g their faces, the happy smiles, the easy intima

front door openin

tumbled i

rn automatically rising in

his arms wrapping around her waist. He buried his face in her neck, t

iff. She tried t

h against him. His hand slipped under h

rs, a rough, demanding kiss that