Chapter 19 - The Anniversary Dinner
One year to the day since the terrifying night of the storm, the locked gates, and the police sirens, we decided to host a dinner party.
It wasn't a large gathering. Just Cousin Sarah from Austin, our new extended family members who had driven down from Oklahoma for the weekend, and us.
The new kitchen was filled with the rich, inviting aromas of roasted garlic, fresh rosemary, and baking bread. Laughter echoed off the quartz countertops and hardwood floors—sounds of genuine warmth and safety that had once been forbidden in my mother’s house.
As we all gathered around the dining table, clinking our glasses together in a toast, Sarah stood up.
“To new beginnings,” Sarah smiled, raising her glass high. “To reclaiming our history, and to the people who refuse to let the darkness win.”
“To new beginnings,” everyone echoed around the table.
I looked across the table at Clara, who was laughing brightly as she talked with my newly discovered Oklahoma cousins. She caught my eye, and a private, knowing smile passed between us.
May you like
We had stared down the darkest secrets of the past, dismantled a legacy of terror, and built something beautiful out of the wreckage.
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