Chapter 1 - The Face on the Screen
The remote struck the polished floor and slid beneath the coffee table.
Caleb Carter did not bend to retrieve it.
He stood frozen in front of the cream sofa, one hand still curved around empty air, his pale-blue shirt tightening across his shoulders as every muscle in his body locked.
On the television, Lena stood beneath two American flags with a newborn pressed into each arm.
His wife.
His children.
The family he had abandoned.
A decorated military officer lowered a purple ribbon around Lena’s neck while officials behind her rose and applauded. Her dark hair was twisted into the same high bun she had worn during overnight hospital shifts. Gray medical scrubs hung loosely from her exhausted frame.
She looked thinner.
Older.
Stronger.
Caleb’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.
“Today we honor nurse Lena Carter,” the television anchor announced.
Lena Carter.
She had kept his name.
May you like
That realization cut through him with surprising force.
The baby in Lena’s left arm shifted beneath a white blanket patterned with tiny blue shapes. The infant in her right arm remained wrapped in navy fabric, one small cheek visible against Lena’s chest.
