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woman who had forged her own path through life. That was what Romi

admired most about her. She couldn’t now turn it around on Kiera and

blame her for those qualities just because they weren’t working in her favor.

Romi knew it was only a matter of time until she broke down and vented

all the pent up emotion she was keeping so carefully under wraps. She

didn’t want to just walk out on Kiera, but she didn’t want to have a messy

breakdown in front of her either. She needed to get away.

“I’m sorry, I have to go now.”

“Wait…” Kiera tried to call her back, but Romi didn’t stop.

She hurtled out the door, blinking rapidly to keep the tears from spilling.

She made it to her car and managed to get a few blocks away, at least out of

sight, before she had to pull over. The tears came, blinding her, but that was

all she allowed herself. She wasn’t going to have a full-on epic meltdown in

her car in front of someone’s house.

After a few minutes, she inhaled her first true breath. It might have been

shaky, but it was a breath all the same. The first one of all the rest she was

going to have to take. Without Kiera.

Chapter 25

Kiera

Kiera thought that maybe she was going to get away without talking

about Romi. She had no idea what she would say. How could she find

words to talk about the most painful experience of her entire life? About

how her heart still felt like it was going to break apart with every single

beat?

It was Thursday and she thought that maybe everyone had just assumed

that Romi quit for any of the reasons that people quit over. She didn’t like

the job. She found something better. She was just passing through. She

found something more suited to what she went to school for.

Kiera had just about breathed a sigh of relief, but when Wynn slipped

into her office that afternoon, she knew it was premature. She’d mailed