This orgasm did not take her by surprise. It built from the tips of her fingers and toes and erased every other touch her skin had ever felt. Her throat was raw, though she was unaware of making a sound, and the blue of Morgan’s eyes eclipsed everything. She fell through that blue, weightless, and Morgan caught her as the last of the evening light bled out of the sky and painted the room a gold that lit her face and framed it forever, eyes sea-gray and sea-blue, black lashes and warm lips, and love, so much love, pouring out of her and into Emilia as her soul splintered and re-formed around the waves of ecstasy that drowned her. She came, sobbing, as the pieces that had for so long drifted, sharp-edged and brittle, fit back together with a pain so exquisite she could not tell if it was agony or bliss, and then it passed, leaving her more fully herself than she had been in years.

After, she lay with Morgan’s arms wrapped around her and Morgan’s heartbeat thundering beneath her ear. Her body ached in its wholeness. She’d come here to grieve and to find a new direction. Instead she’d found Morgan. While her scientific mind balked at the idea of spiritual guidance, she couldn’t help but feel her father’s hand in this. Of course she’d fall in love with this place and with the one person besides her father who had always embodied it. She’d be a fool to throw that all away for a life she no longer wanted.

It’s time, she decided, and sat up.

“You okay?” asked Morgan.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

Morgan’s face clouded. She dropped her eyes and then frowned. Emilia followed the direction of the furrow and froze.

No. This can’t be happening.

Wedged between the couch cushions was a business card. One corner had been crumpled by their bodies, but the couch had preserved the rest. Kate’s photo looked up at them, the embossed real estate logo reflecting the last of the half-light.

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Morgan’s blood cemented in her veins. She stared at the innocuous bit of card stock. Slowly, as wary of the card as if it were a fractious animal, she picked it up. The face that had shattered her world smiled up at her.

A brittle laugh erupted from her lips. Sometimes the universe sent clear signs after all.

“Morgan?”

She continued gazing at the card as her last fight with Kate echoed in her skull. “I thought things would get better.”