Chapter 2

The Saturday sun had barely cleared the tree line when Nolan Avery arrived at Riverside Park with a battered toolbox in one hand and his daughter's backpack in the other. The city had scheduled a community sports day to gather public opinion on a proposed renovation, and volunteers were already setting up folding tables near the entrance.Nolan wore faded jeans, a gray t-shirt, and the same silver jacket he always wore—the one stitched with the small logo of the free community fitness program he ran on weekends. One of the outdoor exercise machines near the walking trail had come loose overnight, and he wanted it fixed before families started arriving with their children.The grass was still damp with dew, and the smell of fresh coffee drifted from a cart near the entrance, mixing with the metallic tang of the wrench in his back pocket. Somewhere behind him, sprinklers clicked on along the far field, and a dog barked twice before settling into the rhythm of the morning. Nolan liked this hour best, before the crowds arrived, when the park still felt like something quiet and unclaimed.His daughter, Mara, walked beside him clutching a paper bag of granola bars she insisted on handing out to anyone who looked hungry. She was eleven years old, sharp-eyed, and endlessly curious about her father's quiet habits. Before Nolan dropped her off with his sister near the picnic tables, Mara asked why he wasn't wearing the navy suit she had helped him pick out the night before for what she called his "important meeting."Nolan told her honestly that he still didn't know whether he would need to show up as himself or simply stand in the back and listen. It was a strange answer for a man who spent his mornings tightening bolts on playground equipment, and it planted the first small mystery of the day. Mara didn't press further. She simply hugged him and ran off toward the swings, leaving her father alone with his wrench and his thoughts.

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