Chapter 10 - A Safe Place
The sun began to set over the park, casting long, warm golden shadows across the grass.
We walked back to my truck, Lily holding my hand tightly, her small steps matching mine. We weren't going back to my parents’ house, and we weren't going back to the country club dinners or the loud, performative family gatherings built on lies and reputations.
We were going home—to a small, quiet house filled with books, the music Claire had loved, and a backyard where the only things that floated in the breeze were the birds Lily loved to watch.
As I buckled her into her car seat, she looked up at me with a sweet, sleepy smile. "Daddy?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Can we make cupcakes tomorrow? Just for us?"
May you like
I smiled, wiping a small stray leaf from her shoulder. "We can make a hundred cupcakes, Lily. And we can knock over every single one of them if we want to."
Lily laughed, a pure, beautiful sound that filled the cabin of the truck, completely erasing the memory of the laundry room door. The promise I had made to Claire was no longer a burden or a duty; it was a living, breathing reality. My family was gone, but my daughter was safe, and for the first time in two years, the future looked exactly like the kind of family everyone wishes they had.
