Leah
Jacob’s parents’ house was already lit when I pulled up, every window glowing softly against the early evening dark. From the outside, it always looked warm. Ordered. Controlled.
I rang the bell anyway.
The door opened almost immediately.
“Leah,” Laura Fairfax said, her expression polite but reserved, the same careful neutrality she always wore around me. “You’re early.”
“Traffic was lighter than I expected,” I replied evenly.
She stepped aside. “Bella’s in the family room.”
Before I could take another step, I heard the familiar rush of small feet.
“Mommy!”
Bella came flying down the hallway and launched herself into my arms with the kind of unfiltered joy only a child could manage. I barely had time to set my bag down before catching her.
“There you are,” I murmured, pressi
