The silence after they left was louder than their chaos had been.
No twin voices clattering over each other. No Aria’s soft giggle curling through the rafters. No Ava’s steady warmth filling the corners of the house. Just the faint hiss of the dying fire and the storm rolling far away, fading into stillness.
I stood at the window, arms folded around myself, staring at the taillights disappearing down the dirt path. The night seemed to swallow them whole.
This was my chance.
The kids’ questions had cracked something open in me, something I couldn’t tape back together. I wasn’t meant to be here. I wasn’t meant to linger in someone else’s story, especially not his.
I grabbed the bag I’d left near the door, fingers curling around the straps with more determination than I actually felt. If
