73|You Don't Know The First Thing About Marriage

Despite taking an over-the-counter sleep aid, which knocked her out soon after she sent Liliana home and checked on Orlando, Marybeth jerked awake sometime before 3:00 AM and couldn't go back to sleep.

A pang of loneliness hit her with the force of an avalanche when she turned onto her side, and her eyes fell on the empty space where Austin should have been.

The bed was too huge without him, the room too quiet.

Yawning, she wondered whether he came home last night and decided to sleep in one of the guest rooms.

"Why do you care? You're over, remember?" she reminded herself as she pushed the covers aside and padded to the kitchen to warm herself some milk.

"Well, that answers your question," she mumbled when she strolled past the living room and saw Austin's strapping frame sprawled out on the couch, with his shoes still on, his head at an unnatural angle on the armrest, and a Hawthorne Foundation binder resting on his chest.

Marybeth wanted to keep moving and pretend she never saw him