Page 4 of Midnight Between Us
I told myself I’d never come back here.
Swore it.
I wrote it in invisible ink on every lease I signed and slipped it between the boxes when I packed up and moved states away.
But here I am.
Back in the place that defined me before I ever had the chance to define myself.
Back in Birchwood Springs.
This is repayment.Not penance, exactly, but not far off, either.I owed a favor.When the time came to pay it back, they sent me here.Honestly, I didn’t come willingly.My first response was nope.Hell no.Really, nope.I even offered my soul in a half-joking, half-serious kind of way.Apparently, that wasn’t quite enough.
Turns out, that my services as a doctor are more valuable in this town than my poor little soul.
So I packed up what was left of my pride and returned to the last place I ever wanted to see again.
It’s strange how quickly a place can strip you down.The moment I crossed the town line, I felt it—that low, familiar pulse of judgment humming in the air.Like Birchwood Springs had been waiting for me, arms crossed, and memory honed to a fine point.And suddenly, you’re not a person anymore.You’re a story—a cautionary tale.
It’s easy to believe you’ve changed when you’re somewhere else.When surrounded by strangers who never knew your history, you get to reinvent yourself.Outside of this small town, I’m Dr.Simone Odette Moreau.I’m capable, smart, and reliable.No one sees the cracks.They don’t know about my mother’s rebellion.About the string of men.About how her life was a middle finger raised to the man who stood at the pulpit every Sunday.
They don’t look at me and wonder who my father is.
But here in Birchwood Springs?
I’m just Simone.
Nina’s daughter.
The preacher’s granddaughter.The one whose mother got pregnant at sixteen just to piss off the church.The girl no one could quite place, because there were too many candidates to figure out who put me in her belly in the first place.
To be clear, my mom didn’t charge for sex.She just didn’t pretend to be ashamed of having it.And in this town, that’s all it took.
They called her a whore anyway.Because it made them feel better.Because it gave them something to say behind cupped hands at potlucks and PTA meetings.
And still, I came back.Even when I was fully aware that nothing stays buried here.Not reputations.Not memories.
Definitely not the past.I worked so damn hard to outrun it.I’m fine with all that though, as long as Keir Timberbridge doesn’t set foot in this town, because if he does, there won’t be enough lies in the world to save me from what’s still bleeding underneath my skin.
ChapterOne
Simone
Current Day...
There’s always that one summer night when Birchwood Springs feels almost magical.
It’s during the Moon & Maple Festival.
By late afternoon, the kite races have already painted streaks of color across the sky, and kids with balloon swords and smeared face paint tear through the crowds like sugar-fueled comets.Neon stars smudge against sticky cheeks, and their laughter clings to the thick, syrupy air like glitter someone forgot to sweep up.
It’s a night festival, of course.And when the paper lanterns begin to illuminate the town, Birchwood Springs seems to have forgotten every bad thing that ever happened here.
Lanterns sway from porch beams and lampposts, stitched together by strings of golden light, and for a minute—just a breath—you could almost believe this place is nothing but fairytales and second chances.
Not that I’m out there soaking in the view.
Nope.
