Chapter 147

Sienna

Isla’s breathing was soft against my chest, her tiny fingers curling into the fabric of my shirt as if she could sense something was wrong.

It was as if she could feel my pain.

Maybe she could.

Children had a way of knowing what their mothers couldn’t say out loud.

Dine knew that this might be her way of trying to assure me that things were going to be all right, even if she did not understand, even if she could not say it out loud as an infant.

I didn’t realize I was swaying until I felt the ache settle into my lower back. I had been holding her and rocking her for too long, but I didn’t want to let go. Because if I did, I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t fall apart. She was the one person holding me down. She was the one reason why I stood grounded, and