Linsy said nothing, but for the first time in a long while, a quiet sense of belonging began to stir. The weight of secrets still rested on her shoulders, but Lydia’s words, like soft rain on parched earth, made something bloom.

Something that might, with time, become

hope.

Lydia wore her smile like a tailored glove, smooth, elegant, and perfectly in place. But beneath that polished exterior, Linsy sensed something unspoken, a quiet triumph or perhaps a ...