“Maddie?”
I washed my face before going downstairs.
Elon stood in the kitchen holding a small bouquet of grocery-store daisies and a box of chocolates.
“For my favorite girls,” he announced.
I stared at the flowers.
Then at him.
He looked exactly like the man I’d loved for nine years.
Same brown hair.
Same familiar smile.
Same navy tie I’d bought him for Christmas.
I’d expected betrayal to change the way a person looked.
But apparently, it didn’t.
“Thank you,” I said.
He kissed my forehead.
“Missed you.”
The lie was delivered so effortlessly that I felt something inside me go very quiet.
“Long day?” I asked.
“Terrible. Meetings all afternoon.”
“Did you get dinner?”
“Barely had time to eat.”
I thought about Sierra.
About the warm voice he’d used with her.
About the promises he’d made.
But I said nothing.
He walked toward Sophie, who was resting in her bassinet.
