Molly led us back through the Boardwalk's interior at an unhurried pace, moving through the main stretch.
I fell into step beside her with Maribel on my other side, the two of them bookending me naturally without any particular discussion about it. Behind us, Cindy and Daisy had drifted into their own orbit — I could hear them talking, Cindy pointing things out, Daisy responding with quiet interest, occasionally surprised by something. First time through here for both of them, and the Boardwalk had a way of making an impression even now.
"You know," Molly said, her eyes forward, "when you walked out of here the first time, I already had a feeling we'd be seeing you again."
"That obvious?" I asked.
"You said what you said about leaving the city." She glanced at me sideways. "But the way you said it, there was no weight behind it. Like you were repeating a plan that had already quietly stopped being the plan."
"I suppose I wasn't very convincing about it," I admitted.
