Chapter 1 - THE GIRL WITH THE GRAY RABBIT
Carter almost walked past me.
For one second, I wished he had.
JFK was crowded with the usual late-morning chaos—rolling suitcases, boarding announcements, parents checking passports, businessmen staring at phones, children dragging backpacks twice their size.
I stood near the international departures area with Lucy in my arms and a canvas handbag over my shoulder.
She had refused to walk because she was tired.
Her gray stuffed rabbit, Cloud, was tucked beneath one arm.
I had been watching the departure board when I heard a woman’s voice behind me.
“We’re married now, Carter. Stop staring at some woman from your past.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
I knew that voice was not meant for me.
But I knew the name.
Carter.
I turned before I could stop myself.
He was standing about twenty feet away.
Older than when I last saw him.
Sharper.
Dark jacket, white shirt, black suitcase.
And on his left hand was a wedding ring.
Beside him stood a blonde woman in pale green, one hand wrapped possessively around his forearm.
She must have been Chloe.
The new wife.
I had heard about the wedding through mutual friends but had made sure not to see photographs.
I thought that would make this easier.
It did not.
Carter was staring directly at me.
Then his eyes moved downward.
To Lucy.
I instinctively shifted her closer against my chest.
Chloe tugged his arm.
He gently pulled free.
“Carter,” she said.
He ignored her.
Then he started walking toward us.
My heart began pounding.
Lucy looked at him with the fearless curiosity toddlers reserve for strangers.
When Carter stopped in front of us, nobody spoke.
The airport continued moving around us.
Cloud slipped slightly from Lucy’s arm.
She lifted the rabbit toward Carter as if an introduction was required.
“Her name is Cloud,” she said. “She’s flying with Mommy and me.”
Carter crouched slightly.
He smiled automatically.
Then he looked at Lucy’s face.
The smile disappeared.
I knew exactly what he saw.
The gray-green eyes.
The little cleft in her chin.
The faint curve of her left eyebrow.
Features I had spent two years pretending were mine because admitting the truth aloud felt too dangerous.
Carter slowly stood.
His boarding pass slipped from his fingers and landed near his shoe.
“Valerie…”
I could barely breathe.
“How old is she?”
Chloe had reached us now.
Her gaze moved from Carter to Lucy.
Then to me.
I looked at Carter’s new wedding ring.
For a moment, anger helped me stand straighter.
“Two years and seven months, Carter.”
His face went completely still.
“You can do the math.”
The honeymoon boarding announcement sounded overhead.
Nobody moved.
Chloe looked at Lucy again.
May you like
This time she saw it too.
And the expression on her face collapsed before Carter ever said another word.
