Chapter 1
When the rescue boat reached the roof, my husband used the last life jacket to save my best friend. The aluminum hull slammed against the gutter hard enough to tear it loose. One of the rescuers caught Daniel when his foot slipped and hauled him into the boat.
"One more," the driver shouted over the wind. "That's all we can take. We'll come back."
The water had already swallowed the first floor of my studio. It pushed against the roof in brown, violent waves, carrying broken fencing, tree limbs, and pieces of homes I recognized. Daniel remained at the edge of the boat, one boot braced against the gunwale. A rescuer pushed the remaining life jacket into his hands. I held out my hand.
Daniel turned toward Sienna, who was still crouched beside me on the roof. For one absurd second, I thought he had confused us through the rain. Then he leaned across the gap and held the orange vest out to her. When she moved closer, he pulled it over her shoulders and fastened the first buckle beneath her breasts.
"What are you doing?" I shouted.
Sienna stood frozen beside the chimney, one hand pressed against her stomach. She was wearing the cream sweater I had lent her that morning, before the evacuation route closed, before I knew my husband had been lying to me. From the boat, Daniel tightened the second strap.
"She has to go first."
"No." I caught his wrist across the gap between the roof and the boat.
The flood surged beneath us. The roof was breaking apart under my knees, and Daniel was suddenly standing somewhere safer, holding the only life jacket around Sienna instead of me. Terror stripped every thought down to one desperate fact: he was my husband. He was supposed to reach for me.
"I'm your wife."
His face twisted. Rain ran from his hair and collected along his jaw. He looked terrified, but not confused.
"Mara, listen to me."
The boat struck the roof again. The rescuer yelled for us to hurry. Daniel covered my hand with his. For twelve years, that gesture had meant calm down, I've got this. This time, he removed my fingers from his wrist.
"Sienna's pregnant."
The wind seemed to fall away. Sienna closed her eyes. I stared at Daniel. "What?"
His answer came quietly, but I heard every word.
"She's carrying my baby."
The rescuer reached for Sienna. Daniel caught her under the arms and lifted her across the gap, keeping one arm around her waist until she was safely inside the boat beside him. He had known exactly where to touch her. That hurt more than the sentence.
"Sienna." Her name scraped out of my throat. "Look at me."
She didn't. Daniel did. His face was pale with fear.
"They're coming back," he shouted from the boat. "Stay near the chimney. Hold on to something solid."
The boat pulled away with Daniel and Sienna inside it. I was alone on the roof. My right hand closed around the object in my pocket: the small brass maker's seal I had grabbed from my desk before the flood reached the studio. Its sharp edge cut into my palm.
Daniel had given me instructions as if I were an employee he was leaving behind. Another wave struck the building. The roof shifted beneath my knees.
The boat was only fifteen feet away. A rescue line dragged behind it, whipping across the water. I didn't think. I lunged. My fingers caught the wet rope.
For one breath, I believed I had saved myself. Then the edge of the roof tore loose. I heard Daniel scream my name. The rope ripped through my hands, and the flood swallowed me before I could see whether he tried to come back.
The last thing I saw above the black water was Daniel pulling Sienna against his chest.