Prologue

Married couple Sara and Randall (Myla's parents) are having a rather heated discussion.

The day was frigid, especially for the month of April, and the atmosphere inside wasn’t much warmer.

They were both crying at this point. She hadn’t expected this. She thought for sure he would be mad. She thought an affair was unforgivable. She thought he would leave, no questions asked. But he had asked questions.

“How long?” he asked, tearfully.

“Randall…”

“HOW LONG?” he asked again, raising his voice slightly.

“Since the Spring Festival.” She knew what he was thinking. He had always been such a wonderful, selfless man, always ready to take the fall for those he loved"especially her. She tried to assure him…”This isn’t your fault. It’s MY fault.”

He shook his head. “I’ve been gone for over a year straight. I leave early and come home late. I missed your festival, Sara. I promised I would be there and I wasn’t. You worked so hard on it. Maybe if I would’ve been there, you wouldn’t have…he wouldn’t have…” his voice trailed off and his gaze fell to the floor. She took his face in her hands and tilted it up until his eyes met hers.

“Listen to me,” she said firmly, tears rolling down her cheeks, “no matter how you look at this, it is NOT your fault!” He shook his head, but she held his face even tighter and forced his gaze back to hers. “No. This is all on me. I am the only one to blame. Period.”

There was a long silence, and then his eyes once again found hers. “I want you to end it, Sara. I might be able to forgive you. We might be able to move forward from this. But not unless you end it…now.” His eyes were still filled with tears, but his voice was steady. She knew he meant it. He was ready to let it go"to move on and forgive her"and all she had to do was end the two month affair that she had been sure would end her 19 year marriage and destroy her 17 year old daughter.

“I will” she whispered. “I’ll go right now and end it.”

He asked to go with her, but she couldn’t let him. She wanted to face this other man alone and end it for good. She had tried many times before to end the affair, but this man had some sort of hold on her. He was wild, spontaneous, and quite unpredictable"maybe even unstable. Randall was right. It was time to end it. So she kissed her husband on the cheek and walked out into the snowy night air.

Snow. Sara couldn’t remember the last time it had snowed in April. It wasn’t a heavy snow, but it was extremely cold outside and the flakes easily turned to ice on the roads. As she drove the 16 miles from Bodega Bay to Sebastopol, she thought about her conversation with her husband and couldn’t wait to get back home to apologize more. She had really messed up this time. They had had fights before, but this was inexcusable. She had an affair with another man while her husband was working to support their family. How could she have been so selfish?

Her pity party ended as she pulled into Patrick’s driveway. She composed herself and got out of the car. As she walked up to his door, she practiced the speech in her head: Patrick, I care about you. And I won’t lie and tell you that the last few months have meant nothing. You were there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on. But I should have turned to my husband during that time, not you. I love my husband and this affair has to end now. I’m sorry.

She felt confident about her speech, so she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. He must’ve heard her car pull up because she only got one knock in before he opened the door, startling her.

“Sara! I’m so glad you’re here! I’ve missed you!” he motioned for her to come in.

No. She thought to herself. I have to do this quickly and leave.

“Umm…I can’t stay.” She started.

“Well, you certainly can’t stand out there in this freezing weather! Please, come in. No sense in you catching pneumonia.” He had a point. Stepping just inside the door wouldn’t hurt. At least she’d be able to get her words out without her teeth chattering. She stepped in and he closed the door behind her. He crossed to the kitchen, but she planted her feet firmly in the doorway. He stopped and looked at her. “Wow. This is serious, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Patrick, I care about you…”

“Uh oh!” he said with a small smile. She felt like he wasn’t taking this seriously, but she cleared her throat and continued.

“I won’t lie and tell you that the last few months have meant nothing. You were there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on.” She paused and took another breath. He leaned forward and reached for her hand, but she pulled it away. He wasn’t smiling anymore. “I should have turned to my husband during that time, not you. I love my husband and…” a sob escaped her throat. She didn’t think it would be this hard. “This affair has to end. Now. I’m - I’m sorry!” tears were streaming down her face now and Patrick took her into his arms. She remained stiff, willing herself to stay strong and not give into him.

“You don’t mean all that.” Patrick said firmly, stroking her hair. “We are meant to be together. I love you.”

She pulled away. “No, Patrick. I’m married and I love my husband.” He pulled her back in and kissed her on the forehead. “Patrick, don’t"” her tears continued as he kissed her cheeks, and then her lips. It was soft and short. She pulled away, but he pulled her back and kissed her hard and long. She pulled away, with more force this time. “Patrick, NO!”

Suddenly, his arm crossed over and his hand struck the left side of her face, hard. She gasped, holding her warm cheek in her hand. His eyes filled with tears and he grabbed her head and pulled in for another kiss. She put both hands on his chest and pushed him away. He stumbled back, his face red with rage. This time, he didn’t hold back. He balled his fist and struck her with such a force that she fell back into the door and slid to the floor as the room spun and then went dark.