Roxie’s body was a tightly wound wire, frayed and vibrating as she pushed through the daycare gate. Every step felt like the final tug that would snap it and leave her a useless mess on the paved walkway.
Around her, the world appeared normal, which served as both a small comfort and an irritation. Somehow, Roxie felt as though there should have been gray clouds and hailstorms to match her life currently. Alas, that wasn’t the case.
Instead, everything around her looked bright and cheerful. The late afternoon sun poured over the little playground like honey, warm against her skin, but it couldn’t melt the frozen knot of dread lodged just beneath her ribs.
It had already been four days. Four long, dragging days of fractured sleep since Elias’s threat had slithered into her life. Four
