20
March 30, 2019
Rio Chama, New Mexico
Myriam sat at her usual table in the Rio Chama Café atrium. The night air was crisp. Snow lingered in the high plains under overhangs and along dry streambeds even though it was late March. She wrapped her coat around her to ward off the chill, but she couldn’t stop the deeper cold that ached her heart.
She and Beecher had just had a grinding row over the phone.
“I’ll be in Taos for two, maybe three days,” he told her.
“That’s four nights you’ve been away this week.”
“It’s business.”
“It’s always business,” she said sharply, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice. “What is it this time?”
Beecher paused and Myriam knew that whatever excuse he came up with was just another lie. “I’m trying to close the deal on a big project. It’s
