Jaden lay in bed, the soft creak of the floorboards beneath Anna's steps a distant sound in the background as he stared at the ceiling. His eyes were fixed on the blank space above him, his mind elsewhere. But he couldn’t stop his gaze from drifting toward the rustling sound of her movements across the room.
Anna was packing.
She moved with an efficiency that told him she had already made up her mind, as if everything about this trip had already been decided. He didn’t know why he was watching her, but there was something about her determination, the way her hands folded and zipped her suitcase with careful precision, that kept him anchored to the moment.
He’d told himself she wouldn’t go. There was no reason she would. After all, his mother’s insinuations, her demands, didn’t concern A
