"Georgia."
That one word was sharper than any blade I'd carried on the battlefield of my own pain.
My eyes locked onto her, my mother.
She stood in the doorway, wrapped in silver like the queen of ice I remembered, her hair swept up, her gaze cool but shimmering. The same face I'd cried for in the dark after I ran. The same eyes that had watched me burn and didn't blink.
Jared tensed beside me. Kelsey gripped my hand tighter. My little boy looked up, confused.
I didn't move.
"Georgia," she said again, this time softer. "You came back."
"I didn't come back for you," I said, my voice steady. Cold. Honest.
She flinched.
It was small. Barely there. But I saw it.
"I know," she said. "I wouldn't expect you to."
Then she walked forward. Slowly. Like the ground b
