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Anyone could come in. She rose slowly, walked over to the door, and

twisted the metal lock into place. She took that brief moment, when her

back was turned to Wynn, to compose herself.

If she couldn’t tell her parents, maybe telling Wynn was the next best

thing. Maybe actually talking to someone would help her begin to have an

idea of how she was supposed to heal herself and go on living the rest of

her life. After Romi walked out of her house, all those years suddenly

seemed very long and meaningless. Any excuses she’d given herself before

about doing the right thing by letting Romi go felt very hollow after she’d

done it.

She’d experienced emotional pain in the past, just like everyone else did,

since it was an unavoidable part of life, but she was completely unprepared

for the blackness of the storm that surrounded her as soon as she’d broken

up with Romi.

Kiera knew that the expression on Romi’s face would haunt her for the

rest of her life. There were no actual words to describe that final look before

she turned and left.

No. Turned and ran, because Kiera had chased her away. She’d taken

what they had and instead of treasuring it and nurturing it, she’d broken it

beyond any hope of repair.

“Nothing.” Kiera pressed her lips together, almost as if to stop herself

from blurting the truth. She wanted to tell at least one person. One person

who cared about her.

“See, that’s the thing.” Wynn pointedly crossed his legs at the ankle. “I

know you well enough to know that’s not the truth, but I’m not going to pry.

Unfortunately, Romi was a great employee and it’s going to be tough to

replace her. Since I hired her and she worked out great, I’d like to know

what I should do differently next time. Maybe someone else needs to

conduct interviews and do the new hires from now on.”

“No, Wynn, it’s not that.”