"I didn't come for a bedroom," Hannah replied. "I came because I wanted my sister to know that I kept her promise, even when I didn't know where to find her."
Nia looked at the locket, then at the tiny girl sleeping under the blanket. For the first time that night, she felt something other than shock, anger, or sorrow. It was cautious and fragile, but she recognized it immediately. It was the possibility of having a family that did not require either of them to pretend the past had been kind.
By midnight the rain had settled into a steady hiss, though the bridge was still closed. Mrs. Ortiz made room for Hannah and Elsie on a padded bench in the small employee break room, while Nia stayed in the dining area to help the remaining travelers. Hannah tried to protest, but Mrs. Ortiz folded a blanket over the bench and gave her the kind of look that ended arguments. "You can thank me by getting some sleep," she said. "Exhausted mothers don't become less exhausted by apologizing."
Nia checked on them before she left to rest behind the counter. Hannah was awake, studying the locket as it lay in her palm, and Elsie slept safely in a portable crib Mrs. Ortiz kept for visiting grandchildren. "I'm scared you'll change your mind in the morning," Hannah admitted. "Sometimes finding a person is easier than learning what to do once you've found them."
Nia leaned against the doorway. "I might need time," she said. "I might say something angry, or go quiet when you want to talk. I spent a long time telling myself I didn't need a sister. I don't think I can undo that in one night."
"I can give you time."
"And you don't have to be grateful for every minute of it. We're allowed to be awkward. We're allowed to get things wrong."
Hannah gave a small, astonished laugh. "You still sound like the bossy big sister who made me finish my peas."
"They were good for you," Nia answered, and they both smiled at the same memory.
Nia slept only three hours on the short bench in Mrs. Ortiz's office, but when morning came she did not feel quite as hollow as she had expected. The sky remained gray, and the road crews were still working, yet the worst of the storm had passed. Mr. Flores called to say the tow truck had reached Hannah's car and found a broken belt and a failing battery, nothing that required replacing the entire engine. Hannah sat very still when he gave her the estimate, then let out a breath she seemed to have been holding since the previous evening.
They ate scrambled eggs while Elsie played with a plastic spoon. Mrs. Ortiz refused to charge Hannah for the night's meals, but she wrote the mechanic's number on a paper napkin and helped her arrange a payment plan. Hannah tried to offer the locket as security, and Nia gently closed her hand around it. "That stays with you," she said. "It's not a thing you trade away because of one bad night."