The Memory of Water
Novelette 9,200 words Recommended by 2 award/anthology sources
"James had always been able to tell when Camille was eavesdropping. Even though she kept her eyes carefully focused on the messages on her band while she poked at the remains of her salad, it would not have fooled him. He wouldn’t scold her in public, but as soon as she scraped out of her heels at the entrance to their quarters the air would have been humid with the upbraiding to come."
Content warnings 1
death
Quasar links out; the story lives on Clarkesworld, where the author gets the click.