Chapter 19: The Weight of a New Beginning
The morning light spilled into the cabin like a soft invitation, warm and golden. Emery woke slowly, stretching beneath the quilt as the scent of pine and woodsmoke drifted through the air. For the first time in a long time, she didn’t feel the heaviness of dread pressing on her chest. Instead, she felt something gentler — a quiet anticipation she didn’t quite know how to name.
She slipped out of bed and padded into the living room. Brent sat at the table with a mug of coffee, staring out the window as though trying to read the future in the shifting light. Callahan Jr. was curled on the rug with his toy animals, arranging them in a perfect circle.
Brent looked up when he heard her. “Morning.”
His voice was soft, but there was something behind
