The next evening came with a strange mix of calm and tension.
Shelly tried to keep herself busy the whole day. Cleaning, cooking, arranging small things in the house that did not really need fixing. But her mind was not still.
It kept going back to Spencer.
To the way things were growing between them.
To the feeling that this was no longer something light or passing.
This was becoming real in a deeper way.
---
Shaina was already asleep early that night. She had been tired from school and did not ask many questions. That gave Shelly more silence than usual.
And sometimes silence makes thoughts louder.
---
Her phone lit up on the table.
Spencer.
“Can I come?”
---
Shelly looked at the message for a long moment.
Her heart already knew the answer.
“Yes.”
---
She did not overth
