Three months into her tentative relationship with Marcus, Kassie found herself in unfamiliar territory: cautious optimism. They’d settled into a routine of dinner dates every other week, phone calls that didn’t send her into spirals of paranoia, and the kind of steady, predictable courtship that her damaged trust could handle.
“He brings you flowers,” Sarah observed, arranging the small bouquet of daisies Marcus had brought to their last date. “When’s the last time someone brought you flowers just because?”
“Never,” Kassie admitted, watching Emma toddle around the living room with the determined focus of a two-year-old on a mission. At twenty-eight months old, Emma was constantly moving, constantly exploring, her vocabulary expanding daily as she narrated her adventures.
“Daniel never d
