Wildflowers had appeared along the fence.
The snow was gone.
Gideon handed her the notebook.
She opened it.
There was only one sentence.
You came here because someone sold you.
She looked at him.
He took the pencil again.
But you stayed because you chose to.
Rosalie smiled.
She wrote beneath it.
Yes.
Then she added:
And I choose you.
Gideon stared at the words.
His eyes became bright.
He didn’t need to hear her say them.
He understood.
Months later, Rosalie returned to Coldwater alone.
She walked into the Ashford house.
The place looked smaller
than she remembered.
Her father sat beside the cold fireplace.
Older.
Broken.
He looked up.
“Rosalie.”
She stood in the doorway.
“You sold me for fifty dollars.”
His eyes dropped.
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
He said nothing.
Rosalie placed fifty dollars on the table.
