She gives my hand a little squeeze. “I saw your future in travel a long time ago. That’s why I sent you to Paris when Dad and I were divorcing. You were losing so much of your identity, and I wanted you to get a taste of who you were going to become.”

I should be out of tears by now, but I flood up again. Not only does she really see me, she’s been supporting me too. All along. And with that realization comes another one. I want that big life out there, but also, I want this. Sitting on a porch next to my mother, the distance between us finally beginning to dissolve.

“I miss you already,” I blurt out.

She smiles big now. “I’ve been preemptively missing you since the day you were born. But you’ll carry some of me with you. That’s what home actually is, right?” She looks up at the house and sighs. “I never actually left this place. Not really. Maybe that’s why I was so scared to come back—I’d have to admit that.”

I nod, my throat tight, and she leans forward, gently touching the locket around my neck. “Now back to what you said earlier. What letters did Sage leave?” She says “Sage” with a new tone, one with a little less pain.

I take a deep breath. “She figured out the real story behind the Bell family curse. The witch isn’t who you think she is, and what happened to Lily is completely different than everyone thought. Sage told the story through a series of letters. They each had a clue leading to the next one.”

My mom’s eyes are heavy, and for a moment I’m afraid she’s going to shut down again. But then she says, “Of course Sage figured it out. She was always magic that way.” She wraps her arms around her knees. “Will you show them to me?”

The last story is ours. You know where to find it. I take a deep breath. “Of course. And actually, I need your help finding the last one.”