Chapter Fifty-Nine
The iron bench in the back garden was freezing against my jeans, but I barely felt it. I sat with my knees pulled up to my chest, my arms wrapped tightly around my legs, staring at the old brick wall where the green ivy was shivering in the morning breeze. The sun was still high and bright, casting long, sharp shadows across the gravel path, but the warmth I had felt just half an hour ago was entirely gone. I kept my eyes glued to the archway, counting the minutes in my head. Five minutes turned into ten. Ten minutes turned into twenty. By the time forty minutes had passed, the heavy, suffocating weight of disappointment had settled right back into my chest, crushing the tiny spark of hope I had worked so hard to build.
Every little sound from the courtyard made me jum
