The lamplight spilled across the table like it didn’t know how to stop—too warm, too soft for what was sitting on the wood. A stack of adoption papers. Just sitting there. Curling at the edges like they were old, like they’d waited too long. Like secrets nobody wanted to touch.
Camille sat still, except—no, not really. Her heart was thudding, uneven, like a warning. Her hands were shaking, her mug rattling a little when she lifted it, chipped ceramic warming her palms but not her skin. Ocean air pushed in through the half-open window—sharp, stinging. Too salty. Like it knew something she didn’t.
Ellie was at school. Her lunchbox sat by the door. Adrian was at the hospital. He’d waved before leaving, slow and soft like he wanted to stay. That image of his hand—burned into her brain. She b
