It had been two months since Scarlet left home. She had called Emma only once since leaving and still hadn't opened the new bank account Emma had urged her to get. If she was going to start over, she wanted to do it on her own. She even changed her device number so she wouldn't be tempted to reach out. Her lease had already been paid, and she refused to become anyone's burden again.
Working at Amaris Celtic Hearth & Brew House in Dublin wasn't easy. She had spent the last nine winters living in the palace, where maids and other domestic workers handled almost everything. Now she was learning the simplest tasks from scratch. Some days she spilled drinks. Other days she mixed up orders or struggled to keep up when the café filled with customers. She made mistakes, apologized, and came back the next day determined to do better.
But the hardest part of her day didn't happen inside the café.
