Chapter 101

Lila’s POV

After a very good afternoon nap I decided it was time to take up my dad's advice and go out for a work at least. I wasn't so sure I was ready to face a large crowd and going to my mom's shop would mean I have to greet a lot of people and answer multiple questions.

So I started dressing up for my little walk.

I slipped into a simple dress, pulled a cardigan around my shoulders, and tied my hair into a loose ponytail before stepping outside. The moment I crossed the porch, the air greeted me, crisp, carrying the earthy scent of wet grass and the faint smell of woodsmoke from a neighbor’s chimney.

The town had shifted in ways both subtle and startling.

As I walked, I noticed the bakery on the corner now had a polished new sign, though the smell of sweet rolls drifting from inside was exactly the same. The once cracked road had been freshly paved, its lines gleaming white under the sun. Houses I remembered as faded and peeling now stood with fresh coats of paint, soft yellows, pale blues, bright whites that caught the light like smiles.

As I walked I saw children playing in their yards,their laughter piercing the quiet day and it reminded me when I used to play around in my mom's garden. I slowed, my chest tightening at the sight, I had been one of those children once darting down these same streets, chasing the echoes of my friends’ voices.

Every corner was a memory: the oak tree I used to climb with scraped knees, the small market square where my mother would bargain with her friends while I tugged at her skirt for candy, the park bench where I had once sat with a notebook and dreams bigger than this little town.

It felt like walking through a dream I thought I had left behind.

After walking for a while I turned back towards home, my steps slower now, my heart a little fuller with every familiar sight. That’s when I heard a voice call out behind me.

“Lila?”

I froze. My name, spoken with a kind of surprise that mirrored the jolt in my chest.

Turning, I saw him.

At first, it took me a moment to place his face. He had changed, grown broader in the shoulders, his jaw sharper, his hair shorter than I remembered. But then recognition slid into place.

Daniel.

His mother had been close friends with mine. They used to sit on our porch with glasses of lemonade, laughing over stories while we played in the yard. He and I had never been particularly close, just two kids thrown together by circumstance. He had left town years before I did, chasing opportunities his family believed couldn’t be found here.

And yet, here he was, standing a few feet away, smiling at me like time hadn’t put an entire ocean between our lives.

“Daniel?” My voice wavered with disbelief.

He grinned, teeth flashing, hands shoved casually into his pockets. “Wow. I wasn’t sure it was you at first. It’s been so long.”

“It really has,” I said, still staring at him like he might vanish if I blinked. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here,” he said simply, with a shrug that didn’t match the weight of the revelation. “Came back about three years ago. Figured it was time to stop running around and put my roots back where they started. And you?”

I hesitated. The truth pressed at my lips, but I smoothed it down. “Just visiting my parents for a while,” I said, my smile practiced, my tone light. “I needed a break from the city.”

He nodded knowingly. “New York, right? I think your mom mentioned once that you moved there.”

“Yeah.” I shifted slightly, feeling the sun warm the top of my head. “Been there for a while.”

“What are you doing now?” he asked, his voice curious but not prying.

“I’m an event planner.” The words came out steady, though for a moment I remembered the launch, the last event I planned. The glittering night that had ended in chaos, in fear and the unraveling of everything I thought I had built. I pushed the memory aside. “It’s… fulfilling.”

His eyes lit. “That’s lovely. Honestly, I can see that suiting you. You always had an eye for details, even when we were kids. Remember the block party that summer? You practically organized the whole thing without anyone noticing.”

I laughed softly, surprised he even remembered. “I don’t think I did much. I was just bossy.”

“Well,” he said with a smile, “maybe being bossy pays off.”

There was an ease in his tone that unsettled me, not in a bad way, but in a way that reminded me just how different my life had become.

I glanced back toward my house, the distance suddenly feeling shorter and safer than it had when I started this walk. “It was really nice running into you, Daniel. I should head back now.”

“Of course,” he said quickly, stepping aside as if to give me space. But just as I turned, his voice called out again. “Lila?”

I looked back.

His smile had softened, less playful now, more thoughtful. “It’s really lovely seeing you again. I would love to catch up sometime, that's if you don't mind.”

The words hung between us, unexpected but not unwelcome.

I managed a small nod. “Sure.”

And then I walked away, my steps quicker now, the warmth of his gaze lingering long after I turned the corner.

By the time I reached my parents’ yard, my heart was still unsettled. I had expected a quiet walk, a moment to clear my head, but instead I had stumbled into a piece of my past I hadn’t thought about in years.

As I opened the gate, I glanced back once, half expecting to see him still standing there. But the street was empty, save for the children still laughing in the distance.

Inside, the house welcomed me again, familiar and steady. Yet my mind kept circling back to Daniel, his easy smile, the way he said he had been here all along while I was out in the world, breaking and rebuilding myself.

I sank onto my bed later, pressing a hand to my stomach, staring at the ceiling.

It was nothing. He was just a neighbor and we just had a polite encounter.

So why did it feel like more?

Why did it feel like something had shifted, even if only a little?

I closed my eyes, the thought chasing me into the quiet. What was that all about?