Lara
Heidi and I walked through the woods as the last light of afternoon slowly disappeared behind the trees.
The snow beneath our boots crunched with every step, the sound strangely loud in the silence surrounding us.
Neither of us had said much since leaving the house.
I knew Heidi needed time.
Time to process what my father had done.
Time to decide whether she could ever trust him again.
And, judging by the sadness etched across her face, she was nowhere near ready to forgive him.
We walked deeper into the trees.
I didn’t know how long we’d been wandering when Heidi suddenly stopped.
I turned.
“What is it?”
She stared at me.
“What if he does it again?”
The question was quiet.
But the fear behind it wasn’t.
Before I could answer, Phoenix growled inside my head.
Cut his n
