CHAPTER 42
The house was swathed in stillness when Lila finally trudged through the front door that evening. Despite the warmth of the setting sun filtering through the curtains, an inescapable chill seemed to permeate every nook and cranny.
She raised her hands and signed, _"Dad?"_ more out of rote instinct than any real expectation of response. The lack of an answer only confirmed her suspicions - Ethan must have been pulling another graveyard shift down at the cannery to make ends meet.
Lila sighed, her shoulders sagging slightly as the silence pressed in all around her. While she tried not to dwell on it too often, there was always an undercurrent of melancholy that came with being home alone these days. Almost like the walls themselves were haunted by specters of better times whe
