Chapter NineLucy awoke to find the skin on her face dry and tight from crying. She felt exhausted and emotionally drained. A wave of loneliness surged through her as she scanned the room and found it empty. Her side of the bed was rumpled but the other side was smooth, the sheet and pillow cold to the touch. She felt certain that Rory had not been back.
Pulling aside the fraying curtain, she saw that people were already going about their daily business in the damp street, their collars pulled up around their necks to protect them from the dank, curling fingers of the November mist. She was empty, numb, with no tears left to cry – and yet, looking back, their argument had seemed so trivial, a mere tiff over an imagined glance, a jealous fancy. Surely he wouldn't leave her because of it? It
