Rachel couldn’t explain why she was so drawn to Eloise. There was something about the girl that stirred emotions Rachel had long buried, emotions that felt both foreign and familiar at the same time. Eloise appeared to have nothing, a girl with no real future, no home to call her own, and yet Rachel’s concern for her was overwhelming.
Deep down, Rachel understood why. It was the kind of understanding that echoed in the deepest part of her soul, but it was too painful to admit. Eloise reminded Rachel of the girl she once was, young, vulnerable, and lost. A part of her wanted to protect Eloise, to shield her from the same struggles Rachel had faced in her youth. Perhaps in some strange, unexplainable way, Eloise offered Rachel a chance to rewrite her own past, to undo the mistakes, the pain
