Jax laughed at herself. A room couldn’t be scary. She turned the knob and swung the door open. The early sun barely lit the room enough to see the inside. With tentative steps, she went deeper and flipped the light switch. Not one thing was in a different place—every box she’d packed remained where she had left it. Several portfolios were stacked against the far wall. She’d planned on taking it all to the apartment, but she didn’t have the room. Or maybe she never really wanted to anyway. Jax was still so unsure of her every motivation over the past year.

Against her own good judgment, Jax opened one of the portfolios. She recognized the work inside as a watercolor series she did. Simplistic, minimal strokes forming a beautiful nude silhouette. Gretchen’s silhouette. She ran the tip of her index finger along the textured paper, following the curve of Gretchen’s enticing hip. No other woman would be this captivating to Jax, either as an artist or as a lover.

Jax zipped up the portfolio and jumped away from it when the doorbell rang. She left the spare room and hurried back to her own. She didn’t know why the idea of being caught in the old studio shook her so, but she wanted to keep that short foray to herself.

“Guess who’s here?” Gretchen’s voice boomed through the home. “Come in.”

Jax heard Amanda entering the house and greeting Caleb. She knew this was her chance to leave the house quickly and with very little interaction. She didn’t trust herself around Gretchen that morning. Something had slipped that should’ve stayed in place, and they had only been under the same roof for one night.

Jax threw on the first work outfit she could find that looked halfway presentable and grabbed her bag. She threw her jacket on and left her bedroom. As soon as she got to the top of the stairs, she stopped walking. She didn’t want to eavesdrop, but Gretchen’s tone caught her ear.

Gretchen was talking to Amanda. “Yeah, well, maybe this really is the old Gretchen.”

“What do you mean?” Amanda’s volume and inflection told Jax exactly what face she was making, and Jax almost laughed.

“I can’t explain it without sounding crazy, but I swear I saw things when I was in that coma, or after, or maybe I was really awake.”

Jax stepped down to get closer, not wanting to miss a word. She waited, barely breathing.

Gretchen finally continued, “It’s like, I saw what I had become, what my life had become, and it was miserable. I don’t want to be that person. Not for myself or for my kid.”