Page 364 of The Sinner: James

“It’s okay. I got more hours of sleep.”

Her gaze dips to her hands.

“I never thought I’d say this, but your mom’s story gives me hope,” she says. “I’d love to meet someone like that man. Persistent. Predictable. Easy on the eyes.”

“That’s it?”

She gives me a sidelong glance.

“Yeah. Why?”

I shrug, my eyebrows moving.

“I don’t know. I’ve always thought you wanted something special. Different, perhaps.”

Her eyes linger on my face.

“Different how?”

I shrug again, musing over an answer when she goes on.

“I’ve had different... Every kind of different. I could write an essay about the men I’ve encountered, yet I’ve never met someone attentive like him. Like your mom’s friend.”

“Do you think he’s special?”

“Yeah, I think so… He wanted her so badly he knew how to convince her to give him a chance.”

My eyes stay on her face. A pang of sadness glints in her gaze.

“What are you saying?”

She smiles, bittersweet.

“All these years, I wish I found someone like him. Someone who needed me that badly.”

I know exactly what she means.

3

RAIN

The evening findsus in the backyard, sitting at the table, eating dinner under strings of dangling lanterns, surrounded by blooming shrubs, the air imbued with their aroma.

“Mmm... The food was delicious,” she says before setting the fork and knife down and grabbing her glass of wine.

A staff member collects the plates.

“Would you like dessert, Miss?” the woman asks.

Eve looks at me, smiling.

I move my gaze to the woman.

“Chocolate ice cream with whipped cream and strawberries,” I say.

Eve’s eyes light up.

“Am I right?” I ask her.

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