Chapter One

Love was an emotion Alice never took for granted. She understood how delicate a person’s heart could be, because hers had been broken at an early age. As a youth she had hungered for her mother’s love, devouring every morsel with the appetite of a starving child. She carried that craving into adulthood, finding women and men who lacked the ability to sooth her hunger pains. She believed her failures in relationships were due to her needy nature, which caused her to push people to their limits. When she found herself falling for Dana, she had desperately tried to ignore the emotions out of fear of repeating her past mistakes. But when the tennis player seemed to return Alice’s feelings with as much enthusiasm she allowed herself to believe in a happy ever after.

That is until Lara reappeared. Alice quickly saw the unfinished romance that hung over Dana and Lara’s heads. The shy glances they snuck when they thought no one was looking, the flirtatious tone their voices carried when talking, and the need to touch. It seemed Dana’s hand always found its way to the chefs arm or shoulder. Alice tried to ignore the signs; she told herself Dana would never hurt her.

In front of her stood the woman she loved. Her wavy dark brown hair framing her beautiful tanned face, and her piercing blue eyes searching for a response. Alice loved starring into those eyes; they had become her safe haven, but in a matter of seconds they had transformed into something entirely new.

“Alice, you have to understand I never meant for any of this to happen. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you, because God knows I do, but I need to figure this out before we can move forward.” Dana’s voice was strained from the guilt and desperation that flowed through every inch of her body.

What Alice understood was once again a person she loved was turning their back on her. She had grown use to situations like this, and over the years the writer had built up what you could call an immune system, but this was Dana breaking her, and no amount of resilience could shield her from the deep gash the tennis player was hacking into her heart at the moment.