CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – RINA Going To Arden City
The house felt different the morning Liora left.
I tried to act normal, helping the girls with their breakfast while Liora packed the last of her things, but there was a heaviness in the air I couldn't quite shake.
"Do you have everything?" I asked for the third time as she zipped her bag.
"Yes, mama," Lila said with a giggle, parroting me, which made Isla laugh so hard she nearly fell off her chair.
I shot them a mock glare, but my heart squeezed. They didn't really understand that Liora wouldn't be back for a while.
Liora came into the kitchen, hair brushed and face glowing despite the early hour. She looked… ready. Ready for something bigger.
"You're sure about this?" I asked softly when the girls ran off to get their shoes.
"I am." Her smile was steady, but her eyes were shining. "It's time, Rina. I can't keep hiding forever. And who knows? This might open doors I never thought I'd see again."
I nodded, swallowing past the lump in my throat. "I'm proud of you."
"I know." She hugged me tight. "I wouldn't be doing this if you hadn't reminded me that I still have a life worth living."
When the car came to take her to the station, the twins clung to her legs, pouting.
"I'll come back soon," Liora promised, crouching to kiss their foreheads. "And when I do, I'll play you the biggest song you've ever heard."
"Bigger than the moon?" Isla asked seriously.
"Bigger than the moon," she promised.
We waved until the car disappeared down the road.
And then it was just me.
The house felt too quiet that first afternoon.
I threw myself into work, lining up rows of candle jars and carefully blending new oils. Orders had been picking up over the past few weeks first a trickle, now a steady stream.
By late afternoon, the bell above my shop door jingled for the fourth time. Mrs. Greene, one of my regulars, stepped in with a wide grin.
"You've outdone yourself this time, Rina," she said, holding up a half-burnt candle from last week's batch. "The whole house smells like a field of flowers. My husband actually asked me to buy more."
I laughed. "That's the best compliment I've heard all week."
Soon, other customers started coming in some strangers who'd heard about my candles from neighbors, others who wanted to try the oils.
One woman even asked if I'd be willing to make a bulk order for an upcoming wedding.
By the time I locked up for the night, my little order board was almost full.
After the girls went to bed, I sat at the table with my ledger, going over the numbers.
For the first time since moving to Calderhallow, I wasn't just surviving I was building something.
Something real.
Something mine.
But even as pride swelled in my chest, loneliness crept in at the edges.
I missed Liora already. Missed her laugh, her music filling the house, the way she could read my moods without a word.
I rested my chin in my hands, staring at the flickering flame of the last candle I'd made today.
She deserved this chance.
And maybe, just maybe, I deserved mine too.
The next morning, I woke to another message this one from the woman arranging the wedding.
She wanted me to meet with her in person.
In Arden City.
I froze, phone clutched tight in my hand.
Arden City.
I hadn't set foot there since the night my world shattered.
The thought made my stomach knot but another part of me, small but growing louder, whispered that maybe this was the next step.
That maybe hiding forever wasn't living.
I glanced toward the girls' room, where they were giggling over some secret joke.
If I wanted to give them the life they deserved, I couldn't stay small forever.
That night, as I tucked them in, Isla caught my wrist.
"Mama," she whispered, "why are you sad?"
I smiled, brushing her curls back. "I'm not sad, baby. Just thinking."
"About what?" Lila asked sleepily.
"About making something big happen," I said softly.
They didn't understand, but their tiny hands reached for mine, and suddenly, I knew I couldn't let fear decide my future.
By the time I went to bed, my mind was set.
I would go.
Not for Arden City. Not for the past.
But for me.
And for them.