Chapter 2

The afternoon was slow and heavy.

Cole stayed in his study longer than he needed to. He read the same paragraph four times and gave up and stared out the window at the garden instead. The sun was doing that late afternoon thing where it came through at an angle and made everything look warmer than it was.

He heard her moving around upstairs. Music again, something low and slow. Then the shower running. Then quiet.

He went to the living room at some point because sitting in the study was starting to feel too deliberate, too much like hiding, and he didn't hide from things in his...