She dropped the key into her purse pocket and stepped back to the large drafting table, where the evening light lay soft and gold across the polished oak.

Rowan, Ellis, and June looked up together as her shadow reached the edge of their paper.

“Is the library project ready for Friday, Mom?” June asked, dipping her brush into clean water.

“It’s ready,” Caroline said, leaning down to place her hands flat on the wooden table beside her children.

“We built everything we need right here in this room.”

The warm golden light rested across the wooden drafting table where three children sat drawing together.