|Katherine|
The very first thing I did when I woke was reach for Javier. My hand slid across the sheets almost instinctively, seeking the warmth that should have been there, only to find emptiness. Cold, unyielding emptiness. My fingers lingered over the pillow beside me, smooth and untouched, and for a moment my chest tightened with a faint, sharp pang.
I had grown far too accustomed to waking with him nearby—his steady breathing, the quiet weight of his presence pressed against mine, the subtle assurance that I wasn’t alone in the world. Mornings had been ours, a small, sacred routine, and now that routine was fractured.
Where had he gone?
Was he up before me because of Grandpa? Did the old man drag him into some early-morning errand, some task before breakfast that required all of J
