Chapter 225
My hand hit something crinkly. I switched on the light to find a note Ro had left me on his pillow.
Gone to Palm Springs. Back in the morning. Don't worry.
He'd snuck out in the middle of the night to fly to California. Why would I possibly worry? I tried to go back to sleep, but his absence left me raw and empty, like a demon had sliced me open, casually thrust in a claw, and yanked out my insides.
Dawn was a long time coming. Rohan's reappearance even longer.
I'd been sitting on the front stairs for two hours, consumed six cups of coffee and two bagels, and worked myself into one righteous fury by the time Rohan rolled up.
A smoke-infused haze covered the sky, the sun a bright orange ball from forest fires burning hundreds of kilometers away. The air was heavy and stagnant with no hint of a breeze coming off the water through the trees.