at Jessi.
She gave me a small nod.
I knelt beside Leo and rested a hand gently on his shoulder.
“I’m staying for dinner tonight. And I’m not planning to disappear again.”
Morning light stretched across the quiet street, laying pale shadows over the frosted grass.
Inside Jessi’s kitchen, the air smelled of strong coffee, cinnamon, and fresh pine from the Christmas tree in the living room.
Leo sat at the wooden breakfast table in his red socks, swinging his legs while sorting through a box of colorful building bricks.
