As other passengers pulling bags rushed past, she took a deep breath and held it as she squinted and forced her eyesight to untangle the blur of swimming words above her head. After several seconds she was finally able to make out Passenger Pickup and Lower-Level along with the direction of the arrow she needed to follow, right. Eileen hefted her tote back onto her shoulder and grasped the handle of her suitcase before heading off toward the escalator.

“Excuse me,” a woman said as she touched Eileen’s elbow. When Eileen turned to face the heavyset, middle-aged woman with a mass of unruly curls that didn’t look to have done battle with a comb in quite some time, she was surprised to see a copy of A Perfect Life raised from the woman’s purse like it was a coded communication between them. The woman smiled and pointed to Eileen’s copy of the same book cradled in the crook of her arm. “I couldn’t help but notice a fellow fan.”

“Oh.” Eileen managed to find her voice. It sounded slow and too drunk in her head. “Yes.” She nodded.

“Isn’t it just the most horrific news?” The woman’s expression suddenly turned sad, like a poor actor in a community play. She shook her head and furrowed her brow. “You have heard, haven’t you? About Clare Collins? I’m just devastated. I’ve read every single one of her books, some more than once. I just can’t believe this will be her last.”

Eileen’s mouth went dry. It was impossible to think of what words to say. Should she admit Clare was her sister? Would that make this more or less horrible? She couldn’t decide, mostly because her brain was drowning in gallons of wine. She stared blankly at the woman and waited for whatever came next in this surreal moment.

“Oh God!” the woman exclaimed as she reached out and grasped Eileen’s arm. “You do know, don’t you? That Clare Collins died last night?” She had the decency to whisper her last sentence. The woman removed her hand from Eileen’s arm and placed it over her heart. “I hope I’m not the first one to break the news.”

Eileen shook her head. No, she had heard.

“I was this close.” The woman pinched the ends of her pink manicured fingertips together. “This close to going to see the movie last night. I couldn’t believe they were releasing the movie and book at the same time! But no.” She held up her hand like a stop sign. “I always, always read the books first, just in case, you know, they get it all wrong and the movie’s terrible.”

Eileen swallowed. “Clare…wen to the premi lasss nigh…t,” she slurred.

The woman recoiled a fraction of an inch, her smile turned uncomfortable. “I’m sorry. What was that?” She tilted her head.