Ninety-Nine Denials: A Fateful Proposal

ven listening to

ughts, yanking me from the past and ba

han the flickering candle on our dinner table.

y voice hoarse.

the living room. My head throbbed, but my hands were steady. I typed furiously, my

th a cold front, amplified by an unusually warm coastal curre

he remote stretch of coast where her famil

id, my voice flat with certainty.

projections, storm surge levels, rainfal

this, Chloe. You have to see this. You can't drive in

as if they were infected. Her face

she hissed. "You'

Chloe! This is my

lunged forward. She didn't push me.

ipped the

warning, of my professional judgment,

that felt ancient and familiar. "You will do anything, say an

y head hit the plaster with a dull thu

tic, controlling man who hides b

the years of love, of sacrifice, of patience-er

aking with rage. "If this is who you

en snatched my car keys f

my voice cracking. "Liste

oor slammed shut, the sound ech

n pieces of the weather report at my feet. The pain in my head was

apsing cabin from my visi

her. The oth

pain. I pulled out my phone. My hands wer

n. My boss. He