Todos os capítulos de Rain After the Snow: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

Julian still hadn't come home by two in the morning.Earlier that night, he'd sent me two photos every thirty minutes, just as I'd demanded.Getting into the car. Stopping at a light. Pulling up outside Sophie's building.Every update had arrived on schedule.Then midnight came, and his messages stopped.I'd known this would happen, but I didn't bombard him with calls the way I had before.In my previous life, the second Julian disappeared from sight, my imagination ran wild. That was why I'd made him agree to check in with me every half hour.No matter how busy he was, he'd usually humored me.But when he was with Sophie, he always found a reason to forget.I couldn't bear to imagine what they might be doing. If he was ten minutes late, I'd panic and start calling every way I knew how.Two phone numbers. Three hotels where he often stayed. Twenty-eight social media and messaging accounts.No matter where I reached out, I was ignored.Eventually, I learned to call the polic

A fine rain began falling as I left the Prescotts' house.Julian opened an umbrella and, without thinking, tilted most of it toward Sophie.Rain soaked one of my shoulders. I shivered in the cold.He sighed, took off his jacket, and draped it around me."Get home and dry off before you catch another cold."For a moment, I stared at him. Then I handed the jacket back.In my last life, something like that would have started a screaming match.Now I simply walked into the rain.When we reached the house, a heap of packages and potted plants crowded the doorway.Roses and lilies. Every single flower was something I was allergic to.Sophie spoke in a small, hesitant voice."Willa, please don't be mad. Julian said it wasn't safe for me to live alone, so he had someone bring my things over. Just for a few days."Julian looked ready to explain, but I only said, "Okay."He caught my wrist, visibly startled."Willa, you're not upset?"I pulled my hand free and managed a faint smil

After thirty-six hours of rattling along the tracks, the train finally stopped at Sawyer's Gap, a lonely town in the Red Basin.Wind whipped sand against my face hard enough to sting.I stepped onto the platform with one suitcase, still weak from the hospital. I glanced back at the rails stretching toward Westbridge and let everything I'd left behind fade into the distance.I rented a small one-story house on the edge of town and buried what remained of Dad's ashes in a grove of desert cottonwoods behind it.Kneeling in the dry earth, I ran my fingers over his rough gravestone.For a moment, I was eighteen again, standing at his funeral.Julian had stood beside me beneath a black umbrella. He'd wiped the tears from my face and made me a solemn promise."Don't be scared, Willa. I'm here. From now on, the Prescotts are your family."He'd been thoughtful and principled back then, always perfectly mannered. Being near him had made me feel safe.Only later did I understand that a m

Julian kept his word. He never deliberately appeared in front of me again.But somehow, he was everywhere in the life I'd built.Winter arrived early in the high desert. When heavy snow blocked the mountain roads, supplies in town became painfully scarce.Yet coal and fresh vegetables quietly began filling the school's storeroom. Every child suddenly had a pair of warm winter boots.The mayor told me, smiling, that a Mr. Prescott from Westbridge had donated it all.I stood at the blackboard with a piece of chalk in my hand and watched snow drift past the windows. I said nothing.One weekend evening, I went to the post office to mail a letter.By the time I started home, the snowfall was thick enough to blur the street.Around a corner, I spotted Julian helping a local man push a stalled truck.Mud splattered his expensive coat. His dress shoes were so filthy I could hardly recognize them.But he looked calm and patient, without a trace of complaint.The driver kept thanking

The operation was a success. Julian's lower leg had been saved, though he faced a long recovery and months of rehabilitation.Sunlight spilled across his hospital bed when he woke.He spotted me on the sofa and smiled with unmistakable relief."Thank you for staying, Willa."His voice was quiet and weak.I rose, walked to his bedside, and took a packet of papers from my bag."Now that you're awake, I'd like you to sign these."A lawyer had prepared a formal agreement ending our engagement for good.In truth, I could have left without it. As long as I never went back to Julian, the papers meant very little.But I wanted something definite. Something written down.I wanted to stand before my father's grave and tell him that I had brought this part of my life to a proper end.Finish what you start. That was what he'd taught me.I wanted him to know his daughter could have a good life even without anyone there to take care of her.Dad had been a proud man who'd given his best