Chapter 10 - The Long Drive Home
That evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, painting the Louisiana sky in shades of deep purple and gold, the entire household gathered on the wide veranda of Crossmoor House.
The twins were fast asleep upstairs, exhausted from a full day of swimming and building forts. Lily was curled up on the porch swing, reading a book of ghost stories that Mara had promised her.
Mara and Damon stood near the stone balustrade, watching the distant headlights of cars turning down the long, iron-gated drive.
“You know,” Mara said softly, leaning her shoulder against Damon’s arm as the warm evening breeze rustled the oak leaves, “the last nanny told me I was walking into a burning church.”
Damon turned his head, looking down at her with an intense, quiet affection in his dark eyes.
“She was wrong,” Damon said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close against his side. “It wasn't a fire. It was just a house waiting for someone brave enough to turn on the lights.”
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Mara smiled, looking out past the iron gates toward the open road, knowing that for the first time in her life, she wasn't running from anything anymore.
She was exactly where she belonged.
