She gasped, reaching to catch it before it hit the tiled floor, but her fingers were a millisecond too late.

The sculpture smashed into pieces, the heart broken in half. Annika stood staring at it, her hand over her mouth. “I’m—I’m sorry,” she said, her voice just a whisper in the sudden quiet. “Hudson, I didn’t mean to—”

But he was already turning away from her, his face a mask of pain and regret. He grabbed a shirt, walked out of the room, and a moment later, Annika heard the front door thunder shut behind him.

In the cold, empty room, she knelt before the pieces of the sculpture and picked them up gingerly. Then she dressed, not looking at herself in the mirror, and slipped away.

chapter twenty

Annika would always remember what she’d been doing when she got the phone call.

She was in one of the many hotel gardens, watching brightly colored birds peck at the ground, searching for seeds. Her mind was numb, her fight with Hudson an analgesic rubbed over everything. It had been four and a half hours since she’d last seen him, since she’d cried until she was almost sick, since she’d scrubbed herself clean in the shower and vowed not to cry another tear today. The EPIC pitch was tomorrow, and she knew she should feel a rush of adrenaline, of excitement. She’d try to muster that then. Today was just for feeling nothing.

Her phone beeped with a text. It was June.

Hey! We landed about an hour ago. Your dad and I split up to go get our rentals. I got mine and I’m headed to the hotel.

K thanks, Annika typed. She should be hearing from him soon, then. They’d probably do dinner tonight; Annika wondered if she’d have the energy for that.

How’s H???

Annika closed her eyes for a moment. Talk later. She put her phone away and didn’t respond to the???? June sent her in response. She just didn’t have the energy.

She wasn’t sure how much longer she sat there, watching the birds peck around her with their sun-dappled feathers. She sat so still, they crept closer, keeping a watchful eye on her. Her mind was curiously blank. She wasn’t thinking of much at all—wasn’t feeling much of anything.

And then her phone rang with an unknown number, as if the universe was saying, “I’m going to make you feel something.”

Annika answered, worried that it might have something to do with the EPIC pitch. “Hello? This is Annika Dev.”

“Ms. Dev, this is Dr. Gregory. I’m the attending physician at the ER at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa.” Annika’s heart began to race. Her mouth suddenly tasted metallic. “I have your father Raj Dev here. He’s been in a bad car accident.”