May 3, 2025

The truck smelled like leather and something herbal—expensive soap, maybe. Amelia settled into the passenger seat, grateful for the tinted windows that turned the aggressive spring sunlight into something tolerable. Her fingertips tingled against the door handle. Everything felt too intense lately.

They drove through Fredericksburg’s historic district in silence. Past Civil War monuments and battlefield markers that had suddenly acquired uncomfortable relevance. Through the ti...