On Thursday the night before her wedding, Clara was busy with packing.
The apartment was half-empty now, boxes lining the hallway and her open suitcase rested on the bed. She moved through the room like someone walking in a dream..her hands folding, stacking, and zipping mindlessly. Tomorrow, she will be living under the Ashfords' roof.
She paused, holding one of her old, worn cardigans. It still smelled faintly of cinnamon and something else she couldn't place. It was a reminder of another time. Another life.
The memory hit without warning.
She was eighteen again. Exhausted. Her body still healing from childbirth, her heart already bruised beyond recognition. Cade's tiny cry filled the small bedroom of her foster mother's home, the sound raw and insistent. She'd been up all night with him, feeding, rocking, whispering lullabies into the dark. Her foster mom, Marlene, had been her anchor through the pregnancy, but three weeks after Cade was born, she was gone, sudden stroke, no goodbye, no plan left behind.
Clara stood in the kitchen that morning, holding Cade against her chest as Sofia, just sixteen, her hair messy from sleep, asked the question neither of them wanted to say out loud.
"What… what are we going to do now?"
They had no family left. No safety net. No map for survival. Clara went back to working shifts at the coffee shop three blocks away, juggling hours with Sofia so one of them was always home with Cade. Sofia picked up a part-time job at a convenience store, sometimes coming home with bruised feet from standing too long.
Still, money trickled in like little drops. Rent was late. The electricity bill went unpaid. They stretched formula cans for days longer than they should have.
If only her parents were still alive. Her father's warm laugh, her mother's soft hands… ghosts now. Their graves were all she had left of them.
Riley, her best friend since freshman year, called often from her art school dorm. She'd visit on weekends, swooping Cade into her arms and rocking him with easy affection. But even Riley's help couldn't change the reality, they were sinking.
And Ethan…