Chapter 66: The New Chapter
The fall brought a new rhythm to the house.
Maya woke up one morning and realized she'd stopped holding her breath. The silence in Lily's room no longer felt like an absence. It felt like a promise—the quiet before the next chapter. She stood in the doorway of her daughter's empty room, looking at the bare walls and the made bed, and she didn't feel the ache she'd felt before. She felt something else. Something that felt a lot like peace. She walked over to the window, looked out at the mountains turning gold and red in the morning light, and she thought about how far they'd all come. She thought about the girl who'd stumbled into Nowhere with nothing but a sketchbook and a broken heart. She thought about the woman she'd become. She thought about the woman Lil
