Chapter 10
Claire
Emma met me the moment I stepped into the house.
She wore her favorite blue apron, dusted with flour, and even though she smiled, her eyes were rimmed with exhaustion.
“Claire,” she breathed, pulling me into a hug before I could react.
I hugged her back, feeling her trembling slightly. “I brought the cards,” I said softly when we pulled apart.
Her gaze softened as I held out the folder. “The kids made these?”
“All for Lily. And for you and Bill.”
Emotion flickered in her sad brown eyes, grief and gratitude, all tangled together. “She’ll love them. Truly.”
“Where is she?” I asked.
Emma hesitated. Only for a moment, but I caught it.
“She went to the store,” she said carefully. “With Ethan.”
My stomach tightened. My face remained neutral only because years of practice had made it second nature.
“Okay,” I said, even though I didn’t feel okay, at all.
Emma set the folder on the counter, then reached for my hands with a gentleness that undid me.
“Claire… honey I had been meaning to talk to you, promise me something.”
My heart dropped. “What?”
“Don’t disappear from our lives.”
The words were soft, but they landed like a stone in my chest.
“We know Ethan coming back… complicate things,” she said, her voice warm but weighted. “We know there’s history. And we’d understand if it hurts to see him around.”
I swallowed, the ache sharp and immediate.
“But honey, you’re part of this family too,” she continued. “You always have been. Lily adores you, she has lost too much. She needs you, now more than ever.”
My throat constricted. “Emma.”
She squeezed my hands, her voice breaking for the first time.
“You’re her godmother. You’re ours, too. Please don’t pull away. Not now.”
Grief and resolve rose, thick and unexpected, and I blinked fast to keep my vision clear.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said, surprising myself with the steadiness in my voice. “I love her. I love and care about all of you. Ethan being back doesn’t change that.”
Emma inhaled shakily and pulled me into another hug. “Good. Because losing Matt and Jenny… we just can’t lose anyone else.”
I held her tightly, breathing in the faint scent of flour and her perfume.
“You won’t,” I whispered.
“I promise.”
And I meant it.
Even if Ethan was a wound I’d spent years trying to cauterize. Even if his return stirred everything rotten, I’d long buried.
Lily needed stability. She needed love.
And I wouldn’t let my complicated feelings stand in the way. I wasn’t about to let anyone down.