Chapter 1

Ten days before our twentieth wedding anniversary, my husband gave my place on our anniversary cruise to his sister. I didn't know I was no longer going until I saw the name on the luggage tag.

When I walked in with the groceries, Amy was in the living room trying on a wide-brimmed straw hat.

Her suitcase lay open on the rug.

My mother-in-law, Diane, sat on the couch, folding a few of Amy's new clothes into it.

Mark stood by the printer, our cruise itinerary on the table.

"Is Amy coming on our anniversary trip too?" I asked.

Amy took off the hat and looked at Mark.

Diane finished folding the dress on her lap without looking up.

"Good, you're home." Mark picked up the printouts. "There's something I need to tell you."

I walked over.

His luggage tag was on top. The one underneath had Amy's name on it.

Both sheets had the same booking number.

"This is our reservation," I said.

"Right. Amy needs to get away for a while."

"Did she book a separate cabin?"

He set the papers down. "Put the groceries away first."

The shopping bags were digging into my fingers.

I set them at the edge of the table and pointed to Amy's name.

"Where's mine?"

Mark glanced at his sister.

"I had the travel agent make a change."

"What change?"

"The other passenger."

I stared at him, waiting for him to explain.

Maybe there was another ticket. Maybe he'd only changed cabins.

But he said nothing else.

I fought to keep my anger in check. "You replaced my name with hers?"

"Claire, just listen—"

"Did you replace my name with hers or not?"

My voice drowned out the printer as the last sheet slowly fed out and dropped into the tray.

"Yes," he said. "I did it Tuesday."

Today was Friday.

On Wednesday, I'd tried on my new blue dress and asked him whether the length looked right. I was planning to wear it on our anniversary trip.

He'd said it looked nice, then asked me to move over because I was blocking the game.

By then, he'd already canceled my trip.

I snatched the papers off the table.

The port, the dates, the boarding time. I'd checked every detail more times than I could count.

The only thing missing was me.

"Who said you could change it?"

"She just got divorced. You know what these past few months have—"

"I asked who said you could touch my ticket!"

"Don't shout." Mark tilted his head toward his sister. "She's upset enough already."

Amy sat on the arm of the couch and rested the straw hat on her knees.

"I thought Mark had told you."

"I wasn't asking you." I turned back to Mark. "Call them. Change it back. Now."

He didn't reach for his phone.

"Claire."

"The travel agent's number is in the email. Call it."

Diane finally looked up.

"Amy's already cleared her schedule."

I looked at her. "So have I."

"Haven't your hours always been flexible?"

"I finished my client work ahead of time. I cleared an entire week for this trip."

She picked up another piece of clothing and shook it out.

"Then you can get some rest at home. Aren't you always saying you're tired?"

I opened my mouth, my chest so tight it hurt.

I'd spent four years saving for this trip.

Every month, when I got paid, I set some of it aside.

Bit by bit, I'd saved enough for those seven nights.

"This is our twentieth-anniversary trip," I said. "Mine and Mark's."

"We know." Diane put the clothes in the suitcase. "But Amy doesn't even have a husband anymore. Let her have this chance to get away."

Amy lowered her head and wiped the corner of her eye with her thumb.

Mark went straight to her.

"Amy, no one's blaming you. You can go."

I watched him rest his hand on his sister's shoulder.

"Mark. In the kitchen."