The cafe at the bottom of the hill was small and warm and smelled of bacon and fresh coffee and the particular comfort of somewhere that had never heard of Harrow Hill and didn't care. They took a table by the window. Marcus ordered enough food for two people without apology. Serena ordered tea and a slice of toast and ate half of it. Liam ordered eggs and kept refilling Evelyn's coffee without being asked. Evelyn ordered the full breakfast. She hadn't eaten properly in days. The house pressing and the line on her arm darkening and the particular way anxiety kills appetite had kept her running on tea and determination for most of the past week. Now she was hungry. Really hungry. She ate everything on her plate and considered ordering more. Nobody talked about the house. They talked about ordinary things instead. Marcus's drive down. Whether the cafe's coffee was better than what they had been making at the house. Whether Serena had ever been to this town before her visits to
Last Updated : 2026-05-20 Read more