felt so truly herself with Dani that leaving her was like being
set adrift. She’d have to figure out who she was all over again.
How could she just go back home when she felt so different?
Emily glanced up at the kitchen window from her car as she
backed out of the small parking space into the alley. Dani
wasn’t standing there any longer. She wouldn’t be, Emily
reasoned, because she didn’t want to watch her drive away.
Emily would have done the same thing. If Dani had been
there, watching her leave with total indifference, Emily could
almost have believed she mean
t what she said.
Was this a freak out? Was Dani kicking her out of her life
because she was scared? Was she running? What had
happened to her in the past? Had someone or something used
her, hurt her, made her afraid of committing to someone? If
things had been different and they’d met each other by chance,
would Dani have reacted the same way? Was it the agreement,
the fact that they were already married, how confusing
everything was that made Dani so scared?
Or had something else got to her? Someone?
Emily heard her mom’s voice from a few days coming back
to her. Telling her that Dani wouldn’t fight for her if the tables
were reversed.
Sudden anger roared up inside Emily out of nowhere. She
navigated her way out of the alley and onto one of the main
streets in the French Quarter. She knew very well that her
parents had good connections, both in the art and political
worlds. Her dad had a whole team of people behind him, and
after that photo came out, one Emily hadn’t even looked up for
herself, they’d be desperate to fix this.