(Ava’s POV )
The days after the stranger’s visit blurred into a strange, uneasy calm.
Not peace, never that, but the kind of stillness that came before something cracked.
The house carried it in small ways. In the way Brian kept his phone close, answering messages in hushed tones when he thought no one could hear. Also how Lily hummed while she cooked, oblivious, her happiness sharp against the quiet dread Ava couldn’t shake.
Even Jake had started to notice.
“You’ve been jumpy lately,” he said one afternoon, leaning on the porch railing. “Everything okay?”
Ava forced a smile. “Just tired.”
It was the same excuse she’d been giving for days now.
Tired. Restless. Fine.
None of it is true.
She hadn’t told anyone about the man in the truck. About the look on Brian’s face when he said,
