141 Chapter 141
Seraphina’s POV 1
I woke up to the smell of coffee and bacon.
For one perfect, stupid moment, I forgot where I was. Forgot what I’d done. My hand reached across the couch for Adrian, the way it always did in the mornings when he’d crawl into bed with me.
Empty space.
Reality crashed back in. The Morrison’s living room. Three hundred miles from my babies.
From my family.
*Former family,* I corrected myself, sitting up and wiping my face. *They’re better off without you.*
But the thought felt hollow. Wrong. Like trying to convince myself the sky was green instead of blue.
“Good morning, sweetheart!” Margaret’s voice floated in from the kitchen, bright and warm. “Coffee’s ready! Come eat before it gets
cold!”
I pulled on yesterday’s clothes and padded into the kitchen, where Margaret was flipping pancakes with the same easy efficiency she
probably brought to everything in her life. Robert sat at the table reading a newspaper, reading sses perched on his nose.
“Morning,” I managed, my voice rough from crying.
“Sit, sit!” Margaret gestured to the empty chair with her spat. “You look like you didn’t sleep at all. Here, drink this.” She pressed a mug
of coffee into my hands before I could protest.
Caleb appeared in the doorway, hair damp from a shower, looking disgustingly well–rested. “Morning. You sleep okay?”
“Fine.” I lied.
His eyes said he knew better, but he just grabbed his own coffee and settled across from me.
Margaret loaded my te with pancakes, bacon, eggs–enough food to feed three people. “Eat up. You need your strength.”
I picked at the food, managing a few bites to be polite. Everything tasted like cardboard. Like guilt.
“Sera?” Caleb’s voice pulled me back, “Where’d you go just now?”
“Nowhere,” I said quickly. “Sorry. Just tired.”
Margaret and Robert exchanged one of those parent looks–the kind that said they were having an entire conversation without words.
“Seraphina,” Robert said gently, setting down his paper. “We want you to know that you’re wee to stay here as long as you need.”
“Oh, I couldn’t-<b>” </b>I started.
“Yes, you could,” Margaret interrupted firmly. “You absolutely could. In fact, we insist.”
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I shook my head. “You’ve already done so much. I was thinking… maybe I could find work in the city? There must be human businesses
that need-”
“Absolutely not.” Margaret nted her hands on her hips. “You think we’re going to let you wander off alone into some city where you don’t know anyone? Where anything could happen to you?”
“I’m not a child-”
“No, you’re family.” Robert’s quiet voice somehow carried more weight than any shout. “And family doesn’t abandon each other.”
The words hit me like a p. Family doesn’t abandon each other.
Unlike what I’d just done.
“I don’t want to impose,” I whispered.
“You’re not imposing,” Caleb said. “Actually, I could use the help.”
I looked up at him. “Help with what?”
“The repair shop.” He leaned back in his chair, casual as anything. “Business has been picking up. I could use an extra pair of hands.”
“Caleb, I don’t know anything about cars-<b>” </b>
“You don’t need to. I need someone to handle the front desk, answer phones, manage appointments, deal with customers.” He grinned.
“You know, all that organized, professional stuff you’re actually good at.”
Margaret beamed. “That’s a wonderful idea! And you’d be right here, safe, with people who care about you.”
“I can’t pay you much,” Caleb admitted. “But it’s steady work, and you’d have a ce to stay. Free room and board.”
“I don’t want charity-”
“It’s not charity if you’re working for it,” Robert pointed out.
I stared down at my untouched pancakes, my mind spinning. Stay here? Work at a small–town repair shop? It was so far from the life I’d
built in Silver Moon Harbor. So far from who I used to be.
But then again, I wasn’t that person anymore, was I?
“I don’t know,” I said finally. “I was thinking… maybe it would be better if I just disappearedpletely. Went somewhere no one knows <ol><li>me. Started over fresh. </li></ol>
“Running away doesn’t work,” Caleb said quietly. “Trust me. I tried it after high school. Went to the city, thought I could outrun everything I was feeling. Lasted six months before I came crawling back home.”
“It’s different-<b>” </b>
“Is it?” His brown eyes held mine. “You think disappearing into some human city is going to make you forget your kids? Make you stop
missing your mate?”
“At least here,” Margaret said softly, “you’d have people who care about you. People who can help you figure out what you really want.”
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“And,” Caleb added, “I promise–absolutely swear–that I won’t tell anyone where you are. Not unless you want me to.”
I looked up sharply. “You mean that?”
“Of course I mean it.” He looked almost offended. “If you want to hide from the whole world, that’s your choice. I won’t betray that trust.
None of us will.”
Robert nodded. “You have our word, Seraphina. Whatever you need, whatever you decide–we support you.”
My throat went tight. “I’m a mess,” I whispered. “I left my children. I abandoned my mate. What kind of person does that?”
“A person who’s hurting,” Margaret said, moving around the table to pull me into a hug. “A person who needs time to heal.”
I looked around the table at these three people who barely knew me, who had no reason to care, who were offering me everything
without asking for anything in return.
*They’re better than you deserve,* my guilty conscience whispered.
“Okay,” I heard myself say. “Okay. I’ll stay. For a little while, at least.”
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