Ben grimaced, unsure what he could possibly say. I’m worried you might die and I don’t want Nora to see it wasn’t going to cut it. Even if she believed him, Ben doubted she would choose to spend what might be her last hours on this planet with him if she could instead be with their daughter. It was stupid of him to have even asked her to leave Nora behind, because now she was clearly on guard. A second ago she’d agreed to leave, but now she wanted to know what was going on — he’d botched it. His chance to change things, and now she wasn’t going to come with him.

He ran a hand through his hair and let out a nervous breath. As he did, he caught a glimpse of himself in a mirrored tea tray on the table by the door. No wonder Melody had started in immediately asking what was wrong; he looked wild. If he did manage to get Melody away from here and it didn’t change things, he thought darkly, everyone was going to think he had murdered her. Estranged husband shows up unannounced, looking like this, convinces her to leave the baby behind… and she was never seen alive again…

“I — this is going to sound crazy, if I tell you,” he started. He didn’t think telling her was a good idea, but he didn’t know what else to do — and he already looked crazy, so perhaps he might as well play the part. “I — think something bad is going to happen to you, if you stay here today.”

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