The therapist had only said, “I want you to imagine that moment planted a seed, thinking that if she wasn’t there then, then she’ll never be there.”
Maggie had blinked in confusion.
Her therapist continued. “And maybe that’s a seed you’ve been watering every day since?”
Maggie hadn’t answered. Couldn’t. Because it felt true. It had calcified into her bones.
Now, brushing a bear that didn’t need brushing, she muttered under her breath, “I’m not just watering some seed, that’s ridiculous.”
The bell over the shop door jingled. A couple wandered in — matching hats, matching tattoos — cooing over Colette’s barware display. Maggie flashed them a smile, tossed out her usual line abouteverything’s twenty percent off today, except the cat,then went back to the bear.
The truth was, she liked it here. Found & Chosen was weird and crowded and forgiving. She could sprawl, let her mess leak out without apology. The opposite of Gwen’s world, where everything had to fit in neat rows and nothing was ever left unscheduled.
But grief had no schedule. It was the one mess she couldn’t joke away.
She stared into the bear’s glassy gaze, her own eyes stinging. “You get it, don’t you?”
The couple glanced over, startled, then politely redirected to the shelves and away from the weird lady speaking to a taxidermied bear head that she was only seventy-three percent sure was actually fake.
Colette appeared from the back, hands on hips. “If you’ve bonded with him, I’ll cut you a deal.”
Maggie straightened, brushing hair out of her face. “Don’t flatter yourself. I was just unloading my trauma onto his dead little eyes.”
Colette didn’t miss a beat. “That’s what he’s here for.”
Maggie laughed, too loud, then pressed a hand to her throat. She wanted to believe it — that grief could be absorbed by a wonky, haunted bear and two sessions of therapy. That she could scratch the surface without ever digging deeper.
But the truth sat under her skin, relentless: She’d lost her mother, and she hadn’t stopped running since.
And maybe, just maybe, she didn’t know how to stop.
Rosie had stolenher phone again. Maggie found her under the dining table, little legs splayed, cheeks smeared with peanut butter, holding the screen so close her nose was practically touching it.
“Hi Auntie Izzzzzy,” Rosie shrieked into the camera. “Hi Auntie Keeeeera.”
Izzy’s face filled the screen, grinning. “Well, hello, my sweet angel darling girl. Can I buy you a pony?”
Behind her, Kiera leaned in, softer smile. “Hey, Rosie-posie. Where’s your mom?”
“Rosie, that’s Mama’s phone.” Maggie ducked down, tugging the phone out of sticky fingers before her kid could FaceTime-order a family pack of Taco Bell, not that that would be unwelcome.
Maggie was breathless as Arlo and Jude thundered through the living room, Nerf darts whizzing dangerously close to her head. She dropped onto the couch, kids orbiting like manic satellites, and gave the camera a look that said it all. “As you can see, it’s been a quiet evening.”
Izzy snorted. “Looks like a zoo.”
“Correction,” Maggie said, flipping the phone to show the trail of Goldfish crackers, LEGO bricks, and couch cushions strewn across the rug. “This is azoo after the apocalypse.”
Rosie crawled onto Maggie’s lap, wedging herself into the frame again. “Show them Puck! Show them Puck!”
Maggie tilted the phone toward the wall, where Rosie’s prized possession — Puck, an aggressively pink stuffed duck the size of a small ottoman — slumped in the corner. Izzynodded, shrugging. “Puck the duck. Can’t imagine how that could be mispronounced badly.”
The kids whooped, then disappeared again in a flurry of Nerf fire. Maggie sighed, returning the camera to her face. Izzy and Kiera were tucked into what looked like their condo’s kitchen, mugs in hand, rings of steam curling upward. They looked… good. Glowy. Happy in a way that twisted something tight in Maggie’s chest.
“How’s engaged life treating you?” Maggie asked.
Kiera smiled. “It’s good. We haven’t really started planning besides picking the date, but based off of how Pete and Danica are handling it, I think we’re going to put that off as long as possible.”
Maggie laughed. “That’s wise.”
