eauty too bold for the weight in her chest. The porch creaked under her steps like it recognized her wearines

Or what passed for it now. The house was hers in legal terms, yet it still felt like it belonged to s

, drawn to the room she had been avoidin

scarf still hung on the back of the chair. The reading glasses rested on the nightstand beside a half-finished n

misstep might shatter the delicat

ross the soft comforter. Her mother's scent - lavender and

r the bed. Dus

e were old journals, photographs, and letters tied in fading

eath c

o silence and shadows. Her mother rarely spoke of him again. He became a myth - a mistake. B

ead q

st Tho

c. Emily asks fewer questions now. I think she's learning to forget you, but I'm not sure th

L

her had secrets. And those sec

th restrained anger. One journal in particular caught her attention,

ned it

to her own silence. About trying to be both mother and father. But what struck Emily

line st

ws. One day, if she comes back, maybe she

wasn't just full of memories. It was full of truths - ones h

and glanced around the room again. This pl

more to

to re

re to

er now beckoned her forward - not wi

ghtened her

just visiti

inning to u