CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
The days at the mountain cabin began to stretch into a gentle, unhurried rhythm that none of the seven sisters had ever known.
Mornings started with coffee on the porch as the sun crested the peaks, painting the valley in liquid gold.
Afternoons filled with small, chosen tasks…Sienna tending a tiny herb garden she had started near the lake, Rowan and Nova mapping new trails together, Isabella learning to paint with messy watercolors that left colorful streaks on her hands and clothes, Mara quietly reinforcing the cabin’s outer buildings with the practical skill of someone who had once built shelters to disappear.
Elena and Lila often walked the same lakeside path they had first explored together after the island, but now the conversations were lighter, laced with pla
