PART 3 The courthouse smelled like wet coats, old paper, and coffee that had been burned for too many hours.

with Margaret and Rachel.

He held Amelia first.

Awkwardly.

Like a man carrying something expensive he did not know how to value.

Amelia slept.

Grace cried the moment he touched her.

Lily stared at him in silence.

Rachel whispered, “That one knows.”

Savannah almost laughed through tears.

Bryce looked overwhelmed after fifteen minutes.

By thirty, he asked the continue reading …