Then she stepped inside.
I followed a moment later, stopping just outside the doorway where she couldn’t see me but I could see everything.
Lily sat on the floor with her sketchbook, legs crossed, hair falling into her face. She looked up when Sarah entered, and something in her expression softened. Not a smile—not yet—but a shift. A loosening.
“Hey, Lily bug,” Sarah said softly, kneeling beside her. “I missed you.”
Lily didn’t speak, but she reached for a crayon and nudged it toward Sarah.
A gesture.
An invitation.
Sarah’s face lit up with genuine warmth, the kind that couldn’t be faked. She sat beside Lily, close but not too close, and began talking about colors and stars and ballerinas like nothing in her world was falling apart.
And Lily listened.
Really listened.
Her shoulders relaxed. Her breathing steadied. She leaned—just barely—into Sarah’s space.
I felt something in my chest loosen too, something I’d been holding tight for months.
This was why I tolerated Sarah’s chaos: because Lily needed her, responded to her, and felt safe with her. And because, if I was being honest with myself, I didn’t hate the way Sarah made the room feel less empty.
I stayed there longer than I intended, watching them. Watching Lily draw. Watching Sarah coax her gently into the world again. Watching something fragile and hopeful take shape between them.
When I finally turned away, heading back to my office, one truth followed me like a shadow:
Sarah Tinsley was becoming a problem.
A problem I couldn’t afford, and one I couldn’t seem to walk away from.
CHAPTER 6
Sarah
The first thingI spotted was Hector’s car—his Mercedes which he usually drove—was parked in the driveway.
Perfect. Just perfect.
Gianna appeared from the kitchen when I entered, holding a tablet and looking far too cheerful for someone who’d just ruined my entire afternoon.
“You’re after my life.”
She blinked. “Good morning to you too.”
“Don’t good morning me. Why is he here?” I jerked my thumb toward Hector’s office. “You scheduled my session during his availability again. I specifically asked you to make sure he’d be at meetings or sacrificing small businesses or whatever it is he does with his time.”
“Actually,” Gianna said slowly, drawing out the word like she was savoring this, “I didn’t schedule anything. He rescheduled his investor meeting to be here.”
The words didn’t make sense. “What?”
“Mr. Irving’s office called to confirm. Hector moved it to next month.” She grinned. “So technically, you can’t blame me this time.”
Hector had rescheduled an investor meeting? To watch a therapy session he normally observed from his office anyway?
“Why would he do that?”
