Page 197 of Burning Daylight

I love you. I’m sorry.

I’ll sketch you into every corner of the world and paint you across the sky.

-RMO

P.S. Don’t trust Frederick.

My smile falters.

My brows pull together, and I read the note again, slower this time.

The “I’m sorry” sits heavy in the center, like it’s bleeding through the page.

I think back to how he was last night.

The way he touched me like he’d never again get the chance.

The way he stared at me like I was the most beautiful piece of art.

The way he kept confessing his love and begging me to remember.

My stomach turns. He was saying goodbye. And he wasapologizingfor it.

The paper trembles in my hand, and I crumple it up, throwing it to the side as my heart rips from my chest like his words have claws.

And now he’snot here. Like everything he promised means nothing.

Another wail from my mother brings me back to the present, my mind narrowing like tunnel vision, and I throw back the covers and slip out of bed.

I’m just at the door to my room, about to go investigate and see what the hell is going on, when it swings open, Beverly storming in with wild eyes, rimmed red around the edges.

“Bevie,” I gasp, throwing a hand to my chest. “What is it? What’s happened?”

She looks behind her, and my mother’s sobs come up the curved staircase, as though she’s in the foyer.

Beverly shuts the door behind her and rushes to me, fingers gripping me tightly as she drags me across the room and into thecloset. She doesn’t speak, and when we get there, her lips press together, all the color drained from her face as she rummages through my clothes, pulling odds and ends out for me to wear.

“Bevie,” I try again.

And again, she ignores me.

“Beverly!” I snap, rushing forward and physically stopping her from moving any more. My hands cover hers, and I expect her to be trembling from how panicked she seems.

But she’s not.

Foreboding trickles down my spine, and I have a terrible feeling that whatever it is has to do with Roman.

He came here last night to say goodbye.

I bat the thought away, my heart feeling like it might disintegrate into dust if I think about it for too long.

“What’s happened?” My eyes spring back and forth between hers, trying to see some truth in her tear-stricken face.

She opens her mouth, and her head shakes slightly. “It’s Ty—Tyler, child.”

My chest squeezes.Did he tell everyone about Roman and me?My face heats, and my heart pounds out an anxious rhythm.

“What about him?” I can barely get out the words.