A creaking floorboard froze Branwen with her hand on the trunk. She was sure John was still asleep, but her nerves were already frayed. She couldn’t see anything moving though the piles near the trapdoor, and he would have called out before coming up anyway. She shifted her light higher and sat back from the now-empty trunk, the contents all around her.
This was the first time since she and John had met that she’d truly felt alone. If only, if only, kept echoing through her mind.
If only she’d taken care of this before they’d come here, if only he didn’t know, if only her body hadn’t betrayed her like this in the first place, if only she’d had the courage years ago to do something permanent.
Even if she did manage to sneak away from John and take care of this now, he’d suspect her. She
