Michael’s words hung in the air between them, not as a question, but as a cold, clinical dissection of her motives. The fragile hope she had tentatively held out for one last, perfect memory was, in his eyes, nothing more than a pathetic attempt at sentimentality, a contradiction he found both puzzling and contemptible.

Linsy felt a sharp, ironic smile twist her lips, a defense against the sting of his dismissal. "I was merely inquiring," she said, her voice carefully stripped of emotion. "A ...