The morning Elise agreed to leave Mirafloras, she’d been sitting in Granny Jasmine’s kitchen watching the older woman knead dough with hands that had seen sixty-seven years of life.

“You cannot heal what you refuse to touch, my dear,” The woman who had taken her in said without looking up, her voice gentle. “Go to this place. Let them teach you what I cannot.”

“You have spent a few weeks with me and I thank the stars every day that I was able to meet a young lady like you. But if I continue to keep you here with me, I fear you might not be able to achieve all...