Her father arrived a day early.
Aurora heard the car in the driveway on Friday afternoon, a full day before she had expected him, and her stomach dropped before she had even reached the window to confirm it. Damian was at the office. She was alone in the house except for the staff, and her father was walking up the front steps with a single bag in his hand and an expression she could not read from this distance.
She opened the door before he reached it.
"Dad," she said. "You are early."
"I changed my flight," he said. He looked at her properly, taking in her face, and something in his own expression eased slightly. "I did not want to wait the extra day. I have been waiting long enough already."
She stepped back to let him in.
The entrance hall felt different with him standing in it.
