Morning came with a soft, hesitant light that crept through the cracks in the curtains, spilling across the wooden floorboards of the cabin. I had barely slept. My body had been too restless, my mind replaying the dinner from last night over and over again.
The way Jack’s family had laughed. The way Ava had smiled so kindly at me, introducing herself with warmth I hadn’t felt in years. The children, chaotic and loud and so alive that their energy still seemed to linger in the cabin even after they had left. And Jack… brooding at the edge of it all, as if the visit had carved out something raw in him.
I remembered the moment they were gone — how his silence had been heavier than the smoke lingering in the hearth. He hadn’t said a word to me afterward, only disappeared into his room. And y
