Mia
My nerves were in tatters as the attendant on our twelve-passenger Gulfstream announced that we would be landing shortly. Sitting across the small table from Aléjandro, I peered out the window to my right, taking in the ground below. With the summer solstice quickly approaching, Northern California was greener with more trees than its southern counterpart. That said, there was still plenty of brown. For a moment, I thought about the vegetation around my mother's home. By now, it would be green in every direction for as far as you could see.
Twisting my wedding rings, I looked down at my hand, but I wasn't seeing what was right in front of me. My mind's eye was remembering what it was like to hide bruises and walk on eggshells, never knowing exactly what to do or say. If my instincts
