The SUV carried me forward, the steady hum beneath my palms almost hypnotic. My mind, however, was anything but steady. The grief from last night and the argument with Matthew tangled inside me like barbed wire, reminding me why every step now had to be deliberate. I could not afford recklessness. I could not afford to let the past dictate exposure, vulnerability, or fear.

The resort gates opened, and the driver turned toward the private entrance. My chest tightened. I draped the coffee-colored ...