Evelyn routinely pulled double shifts at the diner, leaving her feet throbbing and her finances stretched thin just to cover the rent. Despite this, she lived by a simple creed instilled by her mother: you never lose anything by helping others. The moment her gaze fell on the two children through the glass, she felt a familiar, painful clench in her heart.
There was no pause, no second thought. The question of whether they had money never even crossed her mind. She simply offered a gentle smile, pushed the door wide, and ushered them into the heat, extending the kind of welcome only someone who has known true emptiness can give.
She would soon learn the boy was named Liam and his sister, Sophie. A devastating car crash had claimed their parents’ lives only a month prior. Since then, they had been navigating the world alone, falling completely through the gaps in a fractured social system. The first thing Evelyn did was prepare them hot cocoa.
This was genuine cocoa, made with perfectly steamed milk, the rich kind that instantly fogged up your vision and sent a wave of comfort straight to your core. Next, she prepared two heaping plates of pancakes, eggs, and sausage, an extravagant meal that she herself rarely indulged in. The children ate without a word, their eyes fixed on their plates, the warmth finally bringing a faint blush back to their faces.
Evelyn let them be, avoiding any questions that might make them uncomfortable. She quietly topped off their mugs and, just before they departed, discreetly packed a few extra muffins from the counter into a small paper bag for them. This encounter, however, was only the beginning.
Every single morning for the next three weeks, like clockwork, Liam appeared with Sophie. Evelyn would feed them just as she had the first time, keeping it low-key, drawing no attention to them. She never made them feel like a burden or hinted that they owed her a thing…
