about meeting you again.”
“I’ll respect that.”
I searched his face for disappointment.
There was only sadness—and relief that I was standing in front of him at all.
“Why did you keep looking?”
“Because you were my sister’s daughter.”
“That isn’t enough for some people.”
“It was enough for me.”
The words settled quietly inside me.
Not as a promise. Not as a demand.
Just a fact.
I climbed into Daniel’s car.
Samuel stepped back.
“Anna?”
I looked at him.
“Your mother was proud of you,” he said. “She told
