—Theresa—

I stood on the sidewalk, Zury on my hip, and stared up at the small pink house. Behind me, the taxi driver took my bags from the trunk, but, honestly, he could’ve driven off with them, and I wouldn’t have noticed; all my attention was on the house I’d been raised in. It had first belonged to my mother’s parents, who had died long before I was born. During the first years of my life, there had been four of us kids, more than the house had been built to handle; my parents had expanded the basement just so my twin brother and I would have a place to sleep.

There were so many memories contained within that little pink house. I remembered Josh, my older brother, fighting with Mom, though it had taken me years to understand why they’d fought and why he’d moved out. I remembered Nora, my sweet older sister, being depressed and crying all the time—pregnant at sixteen by a boy who broke her heart. I could still vividly recall giving her my Chompy toy because it had always made me feel better. The weight of all those memories were enough to stagger anyone, but they weren’t what weighed me down now.

No, it was the guilt. Looking at that house, I was reminded that it had been over six years since I’d seen it. Six years since I’d been home—could I even call it home anymore? Peter, who I’d been seeing for six months at the time and living with for two, and I had come to visit for Christmas. Somehow, we’d never come back. I realized now that Peter hadn’t wanted to come back because this suburban life didn’t fit with the life he wanted for himself—and so he’d manipulated me into cutting it out of my life as well.

Hindsight was always twenty/twenty, wasn’t it?

The front door opened, pulling me from my thoughts. “Theresa!” Mom called with a blinding smile. She hurried down the front steps, late summer sun glinting on her silver-white hair, and pulled me and Zury into her arms. Immediately, the smell of my childhood overwhelmed me.

“Hi, Mom,” I said, my voice betraying how choked up I was.

“I am so glad to see you, baby.” Her eyes looked misty themselves.

“You, too.” Zury fidgeted in my arms, and I turned my attention to her. “This is your grandma, Zury. You haven’t seen her since you were a tiny baby.” Zury looked curiously at mom but burrowed in closer to me.

Mom smiled fondly at her. “Poor thing has been through a lot.” Her eyes turned sad as they focused on me. “You both have. Let’s get inside.”

She led the way into the house, chattering on about how glad she was to have me home, but I’d stopped in my tracks the moment the door closed behind me. It felt like I’d just stepped into the wrong house.

Mom turned back when she realized she’d lost me. “Theresa?”

Where was the house I’d grown up in? “You…remodeled?”

The older woman blinked in surprise. “A few years ago now. I emailed you pictures of it, I think?”

I struggled to cast my mind back. I thought I might vaguely remember such a thing.

“Are you okay?”

I pasted on a tired smile and went into the living room. “Yeah, I just got thrown for a second.” I put Zury down and looked around. The space was so similar and yet completely different.

Mom looked at me sympathetically and sat down, patting the seat next to her. When I’d taken a seat, she squeezed my arm comfortingly. “Why don’t you tell me everything?”

So I did. I told her all about how Peter had dumped me and left me all but destitute. How the court had favored him because he was on the fast track to be the next District Attorney. I told her how, now, I could see the cracks that had formed between Peter and I after I got pregnant.

“I should’ve seen this coming,” I admitted quietly. “I knew he didn’t want kids.” Like any couple in a long-term relationship, we’d had long talks about the things we’d wanted. It had been no secret that he hadn’t wanted a family, and I’d honestly been okay with it—until I’d gotten pregnant. I’d never once considered doing anything but keeping the baby. Peter hadn’t asked me to do otherwise, so, in my happiness, I’d let myself think he’d changed his mind, too. But, looking back, I could see that he hadn’t been happy at all.

Mom squeezed my hand tightly. “We’re all blind when we’re in love. What matters is that you got help when you knew you needed it. You and Zury being here—it will be for the best.”

“I hope so.”

Her face creased as she smiled. “It will. You two can stay here for as long as you want. Permanently, even. This house is too empty with just me and your dad.”

“Where is he, anyway?”

“He ran out to get some things for Zury.” Mom looked down at Zury who was exploring the living room. “We’re both so happy to have her close. We can finally spoil her.”

That brought a genuine smile to my face. I remembered how Mom and Dad both had doted on Josh and Nora’s children. “Yeah, this move will be good for Zury.” In truth, I really was happy about the move for her sake. Growing up, my family had always been tightly knit. I wanted my daughter to be close with her aunts and uncles and all the cousins just like I had been.

“Liana isn’t too much younger than her. I bet you they’ll be fast friends.”

“Liana?”

“Josh’s youngest. She’s just over a year old,” Mom answered, seemingly unfazed by my lapse.

I, on the other hand, felt myself on the verge of tears again. I hadn’t just forgotten my youngest niece’s name—I’d forgotten she existed at all. That pretty effectively—much more than forgetting that the house had been remodeled—showed how truly disconnected I’d become from everyone I’d left behind in Willow Creek.

Mom said that I could live here—but I really didn’t think that was so. I had wondered if I could call this house home anymore, and I thought I’d found my answer. I was an outsider.

“Oh, I hear the car,” Mom said with a smile, oblivious to my inner turmoil. “I wonder if Carter bought out the toy store?”

A moment later, the door opened. Foosteps. And then Dad appeared.

Before was aware of doing so, I was moving. I crossed the room and all but threw myself into my father’s arms.