Chapter 2

Winnie Lane's POV

I packed only the essentials, then headed out for some air once the rain had eased up.

By the time I got home that evening, Zane was already there. He was busy clearing out the guest room, with two cardboard boxes stacked in the hallway outside.

I walked over, frowning. "What are you doing?"

He didn't even look up. "Getting the guest room ready. Mia's going to stay with us for a while."

I froze. For a moment, I genuinely forgot how to breathe. It took me several seconds to find my voice again.

"How long?"

"Until she gets better."

"And what if she doesn't?"

Zane dragged a hand through his hair in frustration before finally turning to face me. "Winnie, what exactly are you trying to say?"

"What if I say no?"

Zane went silent. Then he took a step back, leaving the doorway clear.

I stared into the guest room he'd completely redone, taking in the new rug, the bedside lamp, and the few potted plants he'd carefully arranged.

He'd thought of everything.

That told me all I needed to know.

He wasn't asking for my permission. He was letting me know what he'd already decided.

I didn't say anything. My fingers had started trembling at my sides.

Zane looked at me and sighed. "Winnie, don't make this into a bigger deal than it needs to be. Once she's better, I'll have her move out. Then you won't have to see her again."

I almost laughed. He was asking me to wait for someone who wasn't even sick to get better before I could have my life back.

My eyes felt dry and raw. I couldn't even cry anymore.

"Whatever you want."

I walked out of the guest room and glanced down at the two boxes by the door. Inside were a scarf, a snow globe, and a stuffed animal.

I recognized the scarf immediately. I'd knitted it for Zane myself last winter, even stitching a little "Z" into one end.

Back then, we'd only just moved to the city, and neither of us had been prepared for how brutal the winters could get.

Every evening, Zane would come home from work and pull his hands out of the pockets of his puffer jacket, his fingers red and stiff from the cold.

And every time, he'd grin at me and insist that he wasn't cold at all.

But I saw right through him.

It hurt to watch, so without saying anything, I knitted him that scarf.

It kept him warm through three freezing winters. And now that Mia was here, he'd tossed it into a cardboard box without a second thought.

The snow globe was the first souvenir we'd ever brought home from a trip together. Inside, a tiny couple sat curled up against each other, watching the snow fall.

That had been our first winter away from home, and somewhere in that winter snow was the most precious promise Zane had ever made me.

He'd promised we would watch the first snowfall together every year and that we would spend every winter side by side.

We'd be just like the little couple inside the snow globe, huddled together as if nothing could ever pull them apart.

But now, it seemed our promises wouldn't even survive long enough to see this year's first snow.

All it had taken was one lie to replace them.

Then there was the stuffed animal.

I picked it up and gently pressed the hidden button in its tail. "Zane and Winnie, forever and always!"

It was old now, and the dying battery made the recording faint and crackly. But I could still hear the excitement in both our voices.

Still holding the stuffed animal, I looked over at Zane, who was busy rearranging the guest room. "What are you going to do with everything in this box?"

His answer was casual, as if I'd asked him about the weather. "Throw it out. I went through it already. There's nothing worth keeping. Mia has a lot of stuff. There's no point in letting all that take up space she could use."

I stared down at the battered cardboard box, my chest tightening until it hurt to breathe.

Every little thing inside had been part of our story. They were pieces of the life we'd built together, memories collected one by one over the years.

And to him, none of it was worth keeping.

He'd tossed our memories aside like garbage, all so there would be more room for Mia.

But maybe it wasn't the things in that box that Zane thought were taking up too much space.

Maybe it was me.

Fine. If he wanted me gone, I would give him exactly what he wanted.

I dropped the stuffed animal back into the box, returned to the bedroom, and changed my flight. I was leaving in three days.