Chapter 15 - A Knock on the Door
That night, the cottage was quiet except for the distant hoot of an owl in the tall Douglas firs.
Ethan lay in his new bed, staring up at the ceiling where the moonlight cast soft blue rectangles across the pale walls. His bedroom door was cracked open an inch, letting in the warm yellow light from the hallway lamp where Claire was finishing her book in the living room.
He closed his eyes, taking a deep, easy breath. There were no sirens. No heavy footsteps on the floorboards. No secrets buried six feet deep.
Just the peace of a quiet house by the sea.
Footsteps padded softly down the wooden hallway, pausing right outside his door.
A shadow fell across the opening.
Then—
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Ethan smiled in the dark, pulled the quilt up to his chin, and rolled over onto his side.
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"I love you too, Mom," he whispered into the quiet room.
And for the first time in a very long time, Ethan Parker closed his eyes and drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.
