Chapter 8

Lizzie awoke to rain. It pattered against the roof, and she rose from her bed with a wide yawn. She watched the rain fall, a little surprised to see it raining in late August. Tracing patterns on the glass of the window, she tried to order her thoughts, but mostly, she was just tired.

“Do you hear the rain?” she murmured, touching her belly. She wasn’t showing much, but when she looked in the mirror, she could see a little bump beginning to form.

Her heart squeezed with so much love it threatened to overwhelm her. Oh, baby, I want you so much. Do you know that?

The circumstances weren’t ideal, to say the least, but Lizzie couldn’t help but feel joyous that this new life would join her. This child would never fill the hole in her heart where her first baby lay, but this felt like a chance to make things right.

It was a chance to be the mother that she hadn’t gotten to be.

She found Seth sitting on the couch in the living room, his feet propped up on the coffee table. He didn’t