Chapter 1: The Man Who Never Smiled
Some people live their lives like fireworks — loud, bright, and impossible to ignore. Others… they simply exist, fading slowly like smoke into the background. My neighbor Vincent belonged to the latter group. He sat every day on his porch in a wheelchair, still and silent, staring at the road as if waiting for something — or someone — that never came.
He never smiled. Never spoke more than a word. Just “Morning” if you greeted him first. Then nothing.
But sometimes… life decides to interrupt the silence. And that’s what happened the day a puppy changed everything.
It had been three months since I moved back into my father’s house. After his death, I had packed up what was left of our old life and returned with my two boys, Ashton and Adam. It wasn’t the perfect home — the pipes groaned, the floors creaked, and the wallpaper peeled in corners — but it was ours. Ours to rebuild.
