Rejected by One, Wanted by Another
The front door clicked open, and Lucy stepped inside the house. Her limbs felt heavy from the emotional weight of the last twenty-four hours. She kept her hand on the doorknob for a long moment, drawing a steady breath. She closed her eyes, trying to hold onto the warmth of Jonathan. For a few brief hours, she had felt like a real person again.
"Lucy! Oh, thank goodness you are home!" her mother’s voice called out from the dining room.
Before Lucy could even take off her coat, her mother hurried into the hallway. Her face was flushed with excitement, and she was tightly clutching a pair of metal kitchen scissors.