Chapter 4

The familiar crunch of gravel under my tires was the first sound of home. As I pulled into the driveway of my childhood house in Phoenix, exhaustion washed over me in waves. Thirty hours of driving with only brief stops for gas and coffee had left me hollow, my eyes burning from tears and highway hypnosis.

My mother appeared in the doorway before I could even turn off the engine, as if she'd been watching for me all day. Her silhouette in the golden porch light was the first real thing I'd seen in two years.

"Chloe," she called, already…