Chapter 6 - The Morning AfterThey sat by the fireplace for over an hour.
They didn't talk about grand business strategies or estate management. They talked about the small, heavy things—the way a person’s laugh echoes in an empty hallway long after they are gone, the unbearable cruelty of first anniversaries, and how children have a way of dragging you back into the land of the living whether you are ready or not.
For the first time in three years, Evan didn't feel like he was drowning in the dark. The fire cast long, dancing shadows across the room, and for the first time, the shadows didn't look like ghosts. They just looked like night.
Around midnight, Nora stood up, thanking him for the quiet conversation, and walked back through the rainy night toward the cottage.
Evan went back to his master bedroom.
He stood in the center of the vast, quiet space. He reached out and clicked off the bedside lamp.
Darkness filled the room.
His pulse spiked, but this time, he didn't reach for the switch. He took a deep, steady breath, recalling the sound of the rain, the taste of Nora’s tea, and a little girl in dinosaur pajamas telling him about a turtle and pancakes.
He walked over, slid beneath the heavy duvet, and pulled it up to his chest.
He closed his eyes.
And for the first time in 1,087 nights, Evan Mercer fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
The next morning, sunlight streamed through the high windows of the master bedroom, bright and golden.
Evan woke up with a start, rolling over and checking the clock on the nightstand.
8:14 AM.
He had slept for over eight hours straight.
His mind was clear, rested, and untethered from the heavy fog that had weighed him down for years.
He got out of bed, showered, dressed in a crisp grey suit, and walked down the grand staircase toward the kitchen.
As he pushed open the kitchen doors, he saw Nora standing at the island, packing a small dinosaur-themed lunchbox, while Lucy sat on her stool eating a slice of toast.
Lucy looked up, spotting him immediately. Her eyes widened with fierce, childish pride.
"Mr. Mercer!" she announced across the kitchen. "Did you sleep?"
Evan walked over, stopping right beside her stool. He looked down at her, a slow, genuine smile spreading across his face—a smile that reached all the way to his eyes, wiping away three years of shadows in a single morning.
"I did, Captain," Evan said, his voice warm and steady. "And for the record... the turtle was right."
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Lucy beamed, taking a triumphant bite of her toast.
Across the kitchen island, Nora looked up from the lunchbox, meeting Evan's gaze. A soft, knowing smile bloomed on her face, and in that quiet, sunlit moment, the big, empty house finally felt like home.
