“How are Luke and Hannah?” Her mom’s words were casual, but she’d probably been tracking her phone every mile of her drive from their Chicago suburb to Heritage, Michigan.
    “I haven’t even made it out of the car.” Libby leaned over her steering wheel, taking in her brother’s restored Victorian. The midday sun highlighted the white siding, black shutters, and large bay window. “But the front of his house looks amazing.”
    “He’s done so much with that place in such a short period.” Her mom carried on as if she was ready to talk all day. “Perhaps marriage and a baby on the way gave him that extra push of determination.”
    Libby scanned what she could see of Heritage. A moving truck was backed up to the house next door, the rear door rolled up and the ramp extended. If someone was moving in, at least she wouldn’t be the only new face in town. “Maybe I’ll find those in this small town too.”
    “A husband and a baby?” Her mom’s voice wavered. “Don’t rush into anything.”
    A man Jane Austen couldn’t have written any better stepped out of the neighboring house and marched to the moving truck. Black hair a little long on top, square jaw, and arms strong enough that he could probably unload the truck single-handedly. Libby swallowed against her suddenly dry throat. The guy’s gray T-shirt pulled tight across his wide shoulders as he lifted a box and disappeared into the backyard.
    Heritage was looking pretty good.
    “Libby?”
    The guy reappeared but this time with a large white dog on his heels. Darcy’s ears perked up as he watched the other dog nudge the man’s leg with a chew toy hanging from its mouth. The man knelt and scratched at the thick white fur, then tossed the chew toy into his backyard. He grabbed another box from the truck as the pup disappeared behind the fence again.
    Darcy whimpered at the window, and Libby ran a soothing hand over his head. Okay, so the dog was not always the example of calm. But could she blame him?
    “Now, Libby.” Her mom’s voice shook her back to the present. “You remember what happened last time you—”
    “No, not a husband.” She dismissed the image of the man. No doubt he had a pretty little wife around there somewhere. “I meant I want to find an extra push of determination. Or purpose. Or something adultlike. I think this job will be a good fit for me.”
    “Did Hannah give you any more details about the library?”
    Darcy nosed her shoulder and she offered him another scratch. “I’ve worked at enough public libraries to know it’ll be pretty straightforward. Besides, it’s time I stop hiding from the past. It’s time to live again.” Her voice rose, bringing silence from the other end. A new job, new address, and new life were just what the doctor—er, therapist—had ordered, even if her mom didn’t want to hear it.
    Libby rested her forehead against the steering wheel. “Besides, Mom, I want to be near Luke and his new family. I want more than the occasional text or phone call. I want a front-row seat watching his kids grow up. We missed so much with him. I don’t want to miss any more.”
    “Maybe you could talk him into moving back here.”
    Libby picked at a thread on her skinny jeans and resisted the temptation to pull it. “He’s happy here, Mom . . . and I think I could be too.”
    “You can always come home, Libby.” The tenderness in her mother’s voice nearly undid her. Her mother was a strong, wise woman, but losing Luke at such a young age had broken something in her—in all of them. Ever since, her mom had a hard time letting her children go. Libby had let her mom rescue her three years ago. She’d gone home to heal and never left.
    That was why this had to work. Going back was not an option for her. It was time to stand on her own two feet.