I walked until my lungs burned. Until the cabin disappeared behind trees and snow.
Found a fallen log. Brushed off snow. Sat.
The forest was quiet. Peaceful. The kind of quiet I'd been chasing when I left New York.
Except now it felt suffocating.
Grace's words echoed. Using my brother as a pit stop. Temporary. Disaster.
All true. All painful.
I didn't know how long I sat there. Fifteen minutes? An hour?
Long enough that my fingers went numb. Long enough that doubt settled deep in my bones.
Footsteps crunched through snow.
I looked up.
Grace. Walking toward me with her designer coat and determined expression.
Perfect.
"Mind if I sit?" She didn't wait for an answer. Just sat beside me on the log. "You walked pretty far."
"Needed to think."
"About leaving?"
"About everything."
