LILY WATCHED through the truck window, her fingers curled on her lap while the world outside grew lonelier and quieter with every mile. The air carried a faint shimmer of the coming Christmas, but out here everything felt muted, private, untouched, distant from the violence they’d left behind.
Jeremiah drove without speaking, one hand on the wheel, and the other resting on his thigh. His profile was sharp in the cold morning light. He was calm but alert, as if he was still replaying last night’s near-k********g in his head. Lily kept stealing glances at him, unable to stop herself. She’d never been alone with him for more than a few minutes at a time, much less traveling into the middle of nowhere with nothing but his steady breathing to anchor her.
When the truck finally stopped, it was
