Naomi’s POV
The wind carried the scent of pine and distant rain. I stood at the edge of the clearing with a flat river stone in my hand, my thumb tracing its smooth surface over and over.
The crew waited quietly behind me, boxes of fresh lumber stacked and ready. But no one moved.
They were waiting for me.
Raymond stood just off to the side, one hand resting in his pocket, the other holding Miranda’s small fingers. Her pink hoodie flapped in the breeze, a glittery butterfly patch stitched over the heart.
I stepped forward and knelt slowly in the soil.
The ground was soft, Cold, Real.
I pressed the stone into the earth where the main house would be built.
“I name this place The Haven,” I said, my voice quiet but clear. “May every woman who enters here walk out stronger, Brighter.”
