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He sers

His gentleness, his compassion, made her throat ache

“I wonder if we could figure out the actual odds of there being so with both of us,” she said bitterly “Is there some statistical table we could consult to find out the mathematical impossibility of our situation? It’s so unfair Why couldn’t it just be one of our faults? I want someone to blame, even if it was me”

He slipped his hand to the back of her neck and drew her close “There’s no fault in any of this”

“There should be”

“Blas”

She pressed her face into his shoulder and inhaled the familiar scent of him Soap, fabric softener and that indefinable essence that would allow her to pick him out in a crowd, even if she was blindfolded

“You’re so reasonable,” she whispered

“Is that bad?”

“Sometimes Sometimes I just want to scream and pout and be unreasonable Sometimes I think I won’t stay sane any other way”

“You’re fine,” he assured her, then kissed her forehead

Fine She felt a lot of things, but none of them were fine

A loud shriek of laughter followed by a splash made her step back Irritation flared in her like an out-of-control bonfire

“They’re in the water I told them to stay out of the water, but of course they didn’t listen”

Thad ss like play in streams”

“The water’s freezing They’ll get sick”

“They’ll dry and be fine”

He headed toward the sounds, his steps eager, as if he wanted to be with those two children CJ walked the other way

She knerong, she knew it made her heartless and cold, but she couldn’t see to yell at the deep inside It fed on her like a parasite Soht, and sometimes she was afraid