Chapter 1
Chapter One
The smell of roasted beans hung thick in the air, warm and comforting, like a blanket Clara Montgomery never quite managed to take off. Mornings in Moonlight Brews were always like this—soft chatter, the hiss of the espresso machine, and the hum of life outside the windows as the town slowly woke up. She leaned against the counter for just a moment, brushing a stray wisp of brown hair from her face, and let herself breathe it all in.
This was her rhythm. Her sanctuary.
The bell above the door jingled again, letting in a gust of cool morning air. Clara straightened, slipping back into motion. “Good morning, Mrs. Harper,” she called with a smile as the older woman shuffled in.
“Morning, dear. Just the usual.” Mrs. Harper’s silver hair was pulled back in its neat bun, her warm eyes crinkling. Clara moved to the register, already reaching for a chai blend.
“How’s your granddaughter’s recital coming along?” Clara asked, steaming milk.
“Oh, she’s nervous, but she’ll do beautifully.” Mrs. Harper’s face brightened as she spoke. “You always remember these things.”
Clara just shrugged with a smile. Remembering details came naturally to her. People liked to be seen, and she liked to see them.
The rhythm of the morning built quickly after that. Contractors stomped in with heavy boots and heavier yawns, nodding gratefully when Clara handed them steaming cups of black coffee. The Lawson twins arrived in their soccer jerseys, chattering about a game while smearing powdered sugar on the counter from the donuts Clara had tucked into their bag. College students filtered in with laptops and earbuds, ordering iced lattes they would nurse for hours.
Clara knew nearly every face. She listened, she asked questions, she laughed in the right places. Moonlight Brews wasn’t just a coffee shop—it was a piece of people’s lives. That’s what she wanted when she opened it at twenty-one, scraping together her savings, betting everything on the idea that kindness could build something lasting.
By late morning, the rush thinned. Clara finally poured her own cup, a simple dark roast with just a touch of cream, and sank into the chair by the window. Outside, the town stretched in its familiar, modest charm. Brick storefronts lined Main Street, their flower boxes spilling with petunias and geraniums. Beyond the buildings, where the pavement gave way to dirt trails, the forest rose like a wall of green.
Clara’s gaze lingered there more often than she liked to admit. The woods had always unsettled her, though she wasn’t sure why. As a child, her mother used to warn her not to wander too far. The forest isn’t as empty as it looks, she’d say, her voice a little too firm, her eyes a little too watchful. Clara used to imagine monsters lurking between the trees, or fairies waiting to whisk her away.
At twenty-three, she knew better. And yet… sometimes, when the wind rustled the canopy just so, when the mist curled low and the shadows stretched long, she swore the forest breathed. As if something unseen stirred within it, watching, waiting.
“Clara? You’ve been staring at nothing for five minutes.”
She blinked, pulling herself back to the present. Marcy, her part-time barista, leaned against the counter with a grin, arms crossed. Her hair was dyed a vibrant purple this week, and the color suited her sharp personality.
Clara laughed softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Sorry. Just…thinking.”
“About what? Existential dread? Or that we need to order more caramel syrup?”
“Maybe both,” Clara teased.
Marcy rolled her eyes but grinned, returning to her task. Clara took another sip of her coffee, trying to ignore the faint tightness in her chest. She loved her life—her shop, her town, her little routines. And yet, there were moments like this when a strange restlessness tugged at her, whispering that something was missing.
She didn’t know what she was waiting for. Only that she was.
The bell above the door rang again.
Clara’s head lifted, her smile automatic. A teenager with a book bag trudged in, muttered an order, and slouched toward the corner booth. Clara rose, gentle as always, sliding back into her role.
But the odd quickening in her pulse lingered, as though some invisible thread had been tugged taut, tying her to something unseen.
The forest loomed beyond the window, tall and endless.
And Clara Montgomery couldn’t shake the feeling that her quiet life was about to change forever.
