FAYE
I stepped outside without really planning to.
One moment, I was inside, trying to make sense of my own thoughts, and the next, I found myself standing at the edge of the doorway, blinking against the morning light.
The air felt different out here.
Softer somehow.
Or maybe it was just me.
For a second, nobody spoke.
They had already been talking before I arrived. I caught some of the conversation.
They were so into the topic that they must have forgotten Helen and I were around—I could tell that much from the way their attention shifted the moment I appeared.
Both of them turned toward me at the same time.
Their gazes were heavy in a way I couldn’t immediately explain.
And suddenly, I became very aware of myself standing there in the open.
My fingers tightened slightly agai
