Chapter 3

Melissa realized that a city could never give her a sense of belonging. Only the connection could give her that.

But the person she met never gave her that sense of belonging.

After a twenty-minute drive, the car pulled up in front of an apartment building. Melissa paid the cab fare, got out, and dragged her suitcase into the building.

This was the first place she'd rented when she moved to Branville—a cozy one-bedroom apartment, not big, but always spotless.

The landlord was an elderly woman named Kaitlynn, who was kind and understanding. Knowing how hard it was for Melissa…