The second-oldest girl tightened her grip on the youngest.
“We can’t,” she whispered. “We don’t have money.”
Elena gave a tired but sincere smile.
“Tonight you don’t need any.”
They exchanged uncertain looks, the kind that passes silently between siblings who have learned to rely only on each other.
“Come on,” Elena added, lowering her voice. “Just to warm up.”
After a moment that stretched long enough for the rain to soak them all through, the oldest girl nodded.
Inside the diner, the warmth wrapped around them like a blanket. Elena guided them to a booth near the heater and hurried to the kitchen before the owner could wander back from the office and start asking questions.
She returned with four plates piled with scrambled eggs, toast, and steaming bowls of soup.
The girls stared.
“Eat,” Elena urged gently.
