The Heir Who Returned

Chapter 2

"Caleb, take Lily and Ethan inside," she said, her voice shaking.

“Yes mum” Caleb said as he took Lily by the hand and walked inside and Ethan followed them behind, we went inside but peeked outside through the door. We saw Mrs. Sarah opened a box and brought out some wrinkled money, she looked at it like it was her last.

"Good morning, Mr. Garrick. Please collect this money, this is all I have." She said with a trembling voice.

He grinned. "If you don't pay up complete before the week runs out, you'll live on the streets with your filthy children."

"Mr. Garrick, please, give me small time. I'll pay up," she said, but he had already turned and left.

Ethan stood behind the door, watching as he left. Mrs. Sarah fell to the floor and began to cry.

"Mummy!" Lily called, running towards her mother, wrapping her small arms around her neck. Caleb followed, kneeling beside her, I stood at the door looking at them without knowing how to express my feelings.

"I'm fine, baby," Mrs. Sarah said, wiping her face quickly and forcing a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Mummy's just tired, that's all." She held Lily for a moment longer, then stood, smoothing her dress like she was smoothing away the last few minutes entirely. "I have to get to work. Caleb, you're in charge while I'm gone. Make sure Lily eats something, and keep an eye on Ethan, alright?"

"Yes, Mum," Caleb said quietly.

She kissed Lily's forehead, squeezed Caleb's shoulder, and gave me a small, tired smile before hurrying out the door, tying a faded scarf over her hair as she went.

The restaurant sat at the edge of town, its sign missing a letter so that it read THE HARVEST TAB E instead of TABLE. Mrs. Sarah pushed through the back door, already pulling her apron over her head as she went, her feet aching before her shift had even begun.

"You're three minutes late." The owner, a sharp-eyed woman named Ms. Whitfield, didn't look up from the receipts she was counting behind the counter.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. There was a — a situation at home, it won't happen again."

"It better not." Ms. Whitfield finally lifted her eyes, and there was no cruelty in them, only the flat weariness of someone who'd run a struggling restaurant too long to have patience left over. "Sarah, this is the third time you are coming late to work since this month and I can't keep covering tables because you're late. One more time this month and I'll have no choice but to fire you. You understand?"

"Yes, ma'am. It won't happen again," Mrs. Sarah said again, softer this time, already reaching for a stack of menus like if she moved fast enough, the conversation would end faster too.

Ms. Whitfield watched her a moment longer, then sighed and went back to her receipts. "Table six needs their coffee refilled."

Mrs. Sarah nodded and hurried off, pushing the morning's humiliation down somewhere she wouldn't have to look at until she got home.

*Back at the house*

Caleb decided the best way to keep Lily from asking more questions about their mother's tears was to take her and Ethan outside. The three of them wandered down toward the old field near the creek, where a lopsided wooden fence marked the edge of someone's abandoned property, good for climbing.

"Race you to the fence!" Lily shouted, already running before anyone agreed to it.

Ethan laughed — a real laugh, the first one that had come easily since he'd woken up in a stranger’s house— and took off after her, his head still tender but his legs eager to move. Caleb followed at an easier pace, watching them both with the guarded half-smile of someone who wanted to enjoy himself but hadn't quite let his guard down yet.

They hadn't been at the fence more than a few minutes before three boys approached them, laughing too loudly at something one of them had said. At the front was a lanky boy in an expensive-looking jacket that didn't belong anywhere near a place like Hollow Creek — James, Mr. Garrick's son.

"Well, look who it is," James called out, slowing as he spotted them. His friends slowed with him, sensing sport. "The widow’s children. Still playing in the mud since you can't afford anything better?"

Lily froze, her small hands curling at her sides.

"Leave her alone, James," Caleb said, stepping forward, his voice flat and hard in a way Ethan hadn't heard from him yet.

"Or what?" James smirked, looking Caleb up and down. "Everyone knows your mum can barely pay my dad back. Bet you'll be begging on the street corner by next week." He turned to Lily with a mocking grin. "Poor little Lily. You smell like it too."

Something in Caleb snapped. Before Ethan could even think to grab his arm, Caleb shoved James hard in the chest, sending him stumbling backward into the dirt.

"Don't you ever talk about my sister like that again," Caleb said, breathing hard, fists still clenched.

James scrambled up, shock and fury twisting across his face, his friends already muttering behind him. "You're going to regret that. My dad's going to hear about this."

"Run!" Caleb grabbed Lily's hand and turned to Ethan. "Come on!"

The three of them ran down the path back toward the house, Lily's small legs pumping hard to keep up, Ethan's heart hammering from more than just the running. Behind them, James's furious shouting faded into the distance, but Ethan had the sinking feeling this wasn't over — not even close.