only asking to speak with Tommy. The truth was far darker than she let on. Jane had been hiding Tommy’s father from us—a dangerous man who had recently resurfaced. Fearing for her son’s safety, she staged a normal visit to leave him with me, erasing all traces of him from her home in case the man came looking. Weeks later,
Jane returned—exhausted, relieved, but still full of secrets. She thanked me, promising she was safe, though I knew there was more she wasn’t saying. As she left with Tommy, I stood at the door praying for their safety, knowing that the shadows she fled from might never fully let her go.