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“You got my vote,” Katherine said, walking her to the door.

“Great. One down. Millions to go.”

“You’ll get there.”

“I know.” Grace smiled, popping the to-go box open and grabbing a handful of fries for the road. “See you Monday.”

Standing just inside the doorway, Katherine watched as Grace got into her car. She marveled at how young, intelligent, and confident Grace Chen was. A good girl with good parents and a good life ahead of her. And it made Katherine wonder why her life had gone in such a spectacularly wrong direction.

Later, when she climbed into bed, she was too tired to dwell on the disappointment of being lonely or alone and the wrong choices she had made. And when she drifted off to sleep, exhaustion took over and Katherine slept better than she had in a long time.

Chapter 3

Matthew Brandon knew what a move to Windsong meant for his family. For most people, relocating to a new town was a chance for a fresh start, a much-needed change of perspective, or an exciting new adventure. But for Matthew, it was just another step toward the end of his marriage.

In the end, it was his wife who had made the decision for them. Because Julia’s relationship with another man was really why they were leaving Kinsey, a small suburb of Seattle, to the even smaller seaside town of Windsong.

Being a part of his daughter’s everyday life made the upheaval, all one hundred and fifty-six miles of it, worth the effort. Still, it hadn’t been easy going along with the charade of commitment and fidelity Julia set before them. Especially since she had no clue that Matthew knew the details of her betrayal.

Between growing up together and a few years with the Kinsey Police Department, Matthew had enough gut instinct and insight to figure out when Julia had started cheating on him. And it didn’t take a shift as significant and unexpected as their move to Windsong for him to know something wasn’t right.

It wasn’t even the time she spent away from home because Matthew could understand those above and beyond the call of duty hours that she said would prove her commitment and solidify her budding career as a television news reporter.

Instead, it was the changes in patterns and behavior that Matthew noticed. And it all began the day Julia went to work and left her wedding rings at home. Something she’d never done before.

When they were newlyweds, Julia loved her rings and was eager to show them off. Each time someone mentioned them, she’d smile and thrust her hand out for the person to get a better look. And it made Matthew believe her happiness and love for them was because they were a symbol of their lifelong commitment to each other.

But as time passed, Matthew got the feeling that it had more to do with the size of the stones and the money spent. And less about the two of them as a couple or their years together.

The first time Julia left her rings behind, Matthew didn’t think much of it when he noticed them sitting in the heart-shaped ring dish on her bedside table.

Since it had been his day off, he thought about taking them to her on his way out to run some errands but changed his mind. Their infant daughter had been fussy that morning, and he didn’t want to risk interrupting Julia’s workday on the off chance that their little Libby threw a crying fit at her mommy’s work.

Instead, when Julia came home that night, Matthew had the baby in her crib and dinner waiting on the table. Meeting her at the door on bended knee, he asked her to marry him again.

“Will you do me the honor of being my bride?” he’d said, sliding the rings back onto her finger. “I promise to love and honor you. And I’ll even pick up my dirty socks.”

Then he had pulled her into his arms, kissed her lips, and apologized for embarrassing her with the impromptu proposal.And even though she slipped from his embrace and headed straight to the kitchen for a glass of wine, his heart still went out to her.

“Long day, babe?”

“The longest,” she’d said, downing the first glass of many.

That night, Matthew hadn’t realized that Julia really didn’t kiss him back. She also didn’t bother to ask about how their daughter’s day was. And it wasn’t until later, when his memories came flooding back, that he could see what that night had really been like.

Maybe because Julia frequently said how competitive a career in television journalism was, Matthew had convinced himself that her mind was way too preoccupied with the pressures of her job, and it was just a bad day.

But when she left without her rings again the next day, Matthew knew something was definitely wrong. And it wasn’t just about Julia leaving her rings at home. It had more to do with where and how she’d left them. Because on that second day, Matthew found them tucked away in a bathroom drawer while searching for a razor.

Standing there with Julia’s engagement ring and diamond wedding band in his hand, he actually had to stop and process what it meant. Had it happened to one of his friends, he would’ve understood immediately. Yet, there he was, frozen in disbelief.

Dropping to his knees, Matthew yanked the lid of the toilet open and threw up. “Damn you,” he had muttered, then puked again, not sure if he was cursing Julia or his own stupidity.

When he could stand, he got up on shaky legs to reach for a towel to wipe his face, and caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. He looked as white as a ghost and felt just as empty.

Squeezing the rings into the palm of his hand, Matthew started to cry. “Damn you!” he shouted, punching a hole in thebathroom wall. He’d been too hurt to realize he might wake their sleeping baby.

So, when Libby started to wail, Matthew dropped the rings on the bathroom floor and ran to her crib. His heart was pounding, and tears of hurt and betrayal streamed down his face when he lifted their tiny infant daughter into his arms.