5
Ridley had almost finished preparing dinner when Grandpa returned home that evening. She was still in her school uniform, though she’d removed her socks and shoes at some point. Slow footsteps on the stairs told her it was Grandpa rather than Dad who was ascending, and by the time he’d moved through the living room and reached the kitchen, her insides were once again a churning mix of nerves and annoyance.
“So,” she said, turning to face him with a soup ladle in one hand. “You told me you need to leave Lumina City because it’s too dangerous for you to stay, even inside this apartment, but apparently it’s not too dangerous for you to go out in the bright light of day?”
With an amused curve of his lips, Grandpa said, “It was the bright light of day that convinced me to go out. I didn’t
