My heart skipped.
The woman in the photo was someone I knew — Emily, my kind and thoughtful neighbor, the one who had become a trusted friend during some of my hardest moments.
Strangely, I didn’t feel betrayed. A quiet calm washed over me instead.
Life has a funny way of weaving stories together, doesn’t it? Sometimes the answers we seek appear in the most unexpected places.
It didn’t feel like a loss or a shock — more like a chapter turning naturally, even if in a direction I hadn’t imagined.
I looked at Aaron and smiled softly.
“She’s wonderful,” I said — and I meant it.
That night, after tucking David into bed, I sat for a while, thinking.
