The sky looked like it had been freshly painted that morning with light blue cloud. Nathan’s hand was laced with Rachel’s as they walked toward the rehab center, and there was this strange, nervous thrill in his chest. Like a first date.




They had both been holed up in a hotel for three days straight. Not just tangled in bed sheets and each other, though there had been plenty of that but talking, laughing, crying. Relearning each other. Rebuilding. He had never felt so close to someone and still so nervous about a single meeting. But this mattered to Rachel. Which meant it mattered to him, more than anything.


She...