Gretchen’s heart broke a little more. Why she felt like this was her final chance, the only night she could approach Jax, was beyond her, but she felt like her final hopes for happily ever after were just extinguished. She looked at the spread of food before her sadly. Tears ran down her cheeks as she felt the side of a dish for warmth, and she continued to cry while eating her pad thai. She should’ve never been dumb enough to fall for Amanda’s hope. But Jax was her entire world, and she refused to believe a love like that could just disappear in four years. She let out a pitiful laugh. She had fallen in love with Jax in a matter of minutes. Jax must have fallen out of love just as quickly.

She left the dirty dishes on the table and went to the couch. She wanted to lie back and let the pain and tears overwhelm her, but her body kept moving. Something drove her up the stairs. She barely knew what she was doing by the time she stood outside Jax’s bedroom door. She placed her palm against the door, feeling the cold wood and its grain. Ignoring the small voice in her head, Gretchen opened the door and stepped into Jax’s room. Immediately she smelled the Dior scent Jax had been wearing for years. The room was tidy except the corner with her hamper, which overflowed. She picked up a discarded shirt and held it up to her nose. Just like the first moment she’d held Caleb in the hospital, her heart was triggered by Jax’s scent. Gretchen knew that would never, ever go away.

She sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the far wall. Even though Jax spent most of her time in the room, it still lacked her presence. Gretchen felt that way about the whole house at this point. Her thoughts turned to Jax’s art studio, which was just as sterile as this bedroom. Jax used to live in her studio, spending any free moment working on something new, something exciting she’d tell Gretchen about for hours. When had all that stopped? When had all the passion died?