Clara's POV
The bus pulled away in a cloud of dust, leaving me standing in the driveway with my duffel bag slung over one shoulder and the summer sun beating down on my back.
I was twenty, still reeling from the screaming match with my parents that had ended with me storming out for good, and now I was here—crashing at my best friend Mia’s house until I figured out what came next. Mia was away at some summer program, but her dad had said it was fine, that the guest room was always open.
I took a deep breath and walked up to the front door, ringing the bell before I could second-guess myself.
The door opened almost immediately.
Mr. Harlan stood there, filling the frame.
He was even more handsome than I remembered from high school pickups—tall, broad-shouldered, with that kind of qui
