The Night He Broke

I had nothing left.

No job. No savings. One week until I lost my home.

I was packing to leave town when I heard a knock at the door…
And opened it to find a little girl standing barefoot in the rain.

She said her mommy was in heaven.
That she didn’t know where else to go.
So I wrapped her in a blanket and let her fall asleep on my couch like she belonged there.

Thirty minutes later, her father showed up—soaked, frantic, and staring at me like I’d just stolen the last good thing he had left.

Walker Hayes rebuilds homes after disasters. But he hasn’t rebuilt a single thing since the day he lost his wife.

He asked me to stay. Just for a little while. Just until his daughter stopped looking at me like I was the only safe place in the world.

But the longer I stayed, the more I started to wonder…
What if I was?

And what if the man who’s spent his life saving everyone else—
Was the one who needed saving most?