Chapter 9 - The House on Oak Ridge
The ink on Julian’s federal indictment was barely dry when Colton began searching for a permanent home. The faded blue apartment where Solana and Junie had weathered their hardest years was filled with too many ghosts, and Chloe needed space to heal under a sky that didn't feel like a cage.
Three weeks later, Colton handed Solana a heavy brass key outside a rambling, two-story farmhouse nestled on an acre of rolling green hills just outside Bellevue. Wraparound porch, a sprawling backyard with an old oak tree, and a sunlit kitchen with dual ovens.
“You bought an estate?” Solana asked, staring at the white-paneled house with wide eyes, gripping her cardigan tightly. “Colton, we don't need—this is too much.”
“It’s not an estate, Solana. It’s a family home,” Colton said softly, placing the key in her trembling palm. “And you’re not guests. You’re the foundation.”
Inside, Chloe was already kneeling on the hardwood floor of the living room, helping Junie unpack a box of coloring books. When Chloe looked up and saw the tall bay windows streaming golden afternoon light across the room, the last lingering shadows of her captivity finally seemed to lift from her eyes.
“It has a garden,” Chloe whispered, walking toward the sliding glass door that led to the backyard. “Mom, look at the soil out there. We can actually plant things.”
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Colton stood in the doorway, watching them laugh. For the first time in his twenty-nine years, the word family didn't taste like ash or sound like a boardroom directive. It sounded like laughter echoing off wooden floors.
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