Chapter 10 - THE NEW FOUNDATION
One year later.
The sun was setting over the ridge,
casting a golden glow over the gardens of Cedar Ridge Lane.
Ava was walking now,
her small hands clutching a plastic watering can.
She was ‘helping’ me with the roses.
I watched her,
my heart full of a quiet,
steady joy.
The house was full of life again.
The dark wood had been painted white.
The heavy velvet curtains were gone,
replaced by light,
airy linen.
The ‘family photos’ Grant’s sister had hung were replaced by art that made me smile.
Grant was in prison,
serving the second year of a ten-year sentence.
He had tried to appeal,
but the evidence was too strong.
His mother was living in a small apartment in a different state,
working a job for the first time in thirty years.
They were gone from my life,
like a bad dream that fades with the morning light.
Nora and Rachel were on the patio,
drinking iced tea and laughing.
They were my family now.
The ones who stayed when the rain started falling.
I looked at the gates at the end of the driveway.
They were open.
I wasn't afraid to let the world in anymore.
I knew how to protect my heart.
I knew how to protect my daughter.
And I knew that I was strong enough to face whatever came next.
I picked up Ava and carried her toward the house.
“Time for dinner,
little one,”
I said.
She laughed and pressed her sticky face against my cheek.
I walked through the front door,
the mechanical voice welcoming me home.
But I didn't need the voice to tell me.
I could feel it in the walls.
I could feel it in the air.
I was Lena Hayes.
And this was my estate.
Built on the ruins of a betrayal.
Grown in the garden of my own strength.
May you like
And guarded by a love that would never be locked out.
The end.
