At dinner that evening, Serena found herself eating baked chicken with rice and steamed veggies, feeling like no time had gone by at all. It was as if she had never left. She sat next to Grams, who chatted away about her garden, and watched Courtney relax little by little as the conversation went on. Every once and awhile Austin would lean over and mumble something to her friend, causing Courtney to beam a girly grin as if she'd known him her whole life.
Broken as it may be, it did her heart good to see them together.
Grams' house even smelled the same, like aged paper and lemon dusting spray. The oak dining table in the heart of the large dining room was polished and well cared for. The crystal chandelier above them was without a scrap of dust, which always amazed her. Light fragments s
