Chapter 88 Something Real

• The sky had deepened into a velvet navy by the time Charles and Emily were back on the road. The windows were down, letting in the cool night air, and the stars blinked faintly above them. The beach still clung to their skin—salt in their hair, sand between their toes—but neither of them seemed to mind.
• Emily leaned her head against the window, her eyes half-closed, a soft smile still playing on her lips. Charles glanced at her now and then, his hand steady on the wheel, the silence between them warm and full.
• Then—