Chapter 15

Kayla had waited from 7:00 pm to midnight. The dishes on the table had long gone cold, and the special birthday cake she'd ordered had melted slightly, the frosting smeared. At 11:15 pm, just as she finished throwing out the meal and packing away the ruined cake, Jonah finally walked through the door, his face heavy with sorrow. Before she could even say a word, he started talking about Sally and Lily returning from Ostia—about the cancer diagnosis. Kayla looked at his exhausted expression and swallowed her disappointment. She said nothing about her birthday. Instead, she pulled him into her arms and comforted him for a long time. The truth was, on Kayla's birthday, Jonah had actually left campus two hours early. He bought flowers and picked up a diamond bracelet he'd had custom-made for weeks. But the moment he got Lily's call, he dropped everything he was supposed to do without a second thought. He'd rushed to the airport in high spirits, handing over the flowers and gift meant