Willow woke to the hotel suite breathing around her.
It was not silence, but it was not noise either. The steady hum of climate control. The distant hush of traffic softened by thick glass. The muted sense of a place designed to hold people temporarily, to cradle them between where they had been and where they were going next.
The other side of the bed was empty.
She lay still for a moment, letting the awareness settle without alarm, her hand resting over her middle out of habit rather than pain. When she shifted slightly, careful without fear, her fingers brushed the nightstand.
That was when she noticed the note.
It lay folded beside her phone, placed close enough that he must have intended her to see it before she wondered where he was. She picked it up slowly, unfolding it with the same care she had learned to apply to everything lately.
Had to step out. Back soon.
Don't rush. I'll be right back.
