In the shadows, Natasha held her breath and tried to stem the tide of tears. It seemed that the decision had been made. She’d be leaving forever, going with him and his fancy ideas back East.

She supposed that she’d seen it coming, had had to share for long enough, but it still felt like swallowing hot coals in a bath of ice.

After much too long, the couple in front of her stood and walked down the beach, arm in arm and, as despair gave way slowly to anger, questions rose in her mind: “does he know?” and, much later, “what am I going to do about it?”