Chapter 1: Timing
Emma told herself it was just timing.
Adults are good at that. Turning things that felt too heavy into something easier to carry.
Timing. Stress. Work. Life.
Anything except the truth sitting quietly underneath it all.
Her name came into Emma’s mind in the same way it always did. Not loudly. Not suddenly. Just there, like it had been waiting.
Chloe.
Emma did not say it out loud. She rarely did unless she had already thought about the consequences of saying it.