“The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?”

He whispers, his gaze lost beneath its glow, as memories drift back to him under the silver light.

But the ice cream cart’s freezer chose that moment to rattle like a dying engine, and the spell was broken. Jonas gave the rusty machine a practiced kick. It sputtered, then fell back into its usual, wheezing hum. The park was a ghost town, all shadows and echoes. The only other soul was his daughter, Lily, whose vanilla scoop was currently making a break for it down the front of her dress.

“Daddy,” she said, her voice small but slicing through the silence like a shard of glass. “Did the moon make Mommy leave?”

Jonas felt the air leave his lungs. Kids. They didn’t tiptoe around the landmines; they jumped on them just to hear the noise. He wiped a sticky smear from her chin with his thumb.

“No, sweetheart. The moon’s just… watching. Like us.” It was a weak answer, and they both knew it. “Mommy’s on her own adventure right now. But we’re the main characters in ours, okay?” He tapped her nose, earning a half-smile that didn’t reach her confused eyes.

That’s when he saw her. The woman. She moved through the park not like she was lost, but like she owned the silence. Her heels clicked a quiet rhythm on the path, a sound that felt too city for this sleepy patch of grass. She’d passed by before, always alone, always leaving a trail of unanswered questions in her wake.

She stopped at the cart. Up close, she had eyes the color of strong coffee, and they didn’t look at the cart with pity, or at him with the usual awkwardness. They just… saw.

“Two cones, please,” she said, her voice a low hum that rivaled the freezer’s. “One vanilla. One strawberry. The classics.”

Jonas fumbled with a scoop. It felt clumsy in his hand. “Big night?” he asked, immediately cringing at the lameness of it.

A ghost of a smile played on her lips. “Something like that. One’s for my landlord. Bribery is cheaper than a rent increase.”

He barked a laugh, a short, surprised sound he hardly recognized. As he handed her the cones, their fingers brushed. A simple, static shock, but it jolted him. Her gaze flickered to Lily, then back to him, and the understanding in them was so direct it was almost uncomfortable.

“You run this place by yourself?” she asked, her eyes flickering briefly to Lily.

“Yes. It’s just me and her,” Jonas replied, his voice tight. “She’s... my world.”

The woman’s smile was brief but genuine, and for a moment, Jonas caught a glimmer of something in her gaze—an understanding, an empathy that caught him off guard.

“It’s a good thing you’re doing,” she said, her tone matter-of-fact, not saccharine. “Building a kingdom out of sugar and sprinkles.”

“Feels more like a fortress most days,” he admitted before he could stop himself.

Her smile widened, just a fraction. “Fortresses are strong.” She turned to leave, then paused, glancing back over her shoulder, her silhouette sharp against the moon’s glare. “The moon is beautiful tonight. Isn't it?”

And then she was gone, swallowed by the dark, leaving behind the scent of her perfume and a hole in the quiet.

Jonas stood frozen. She’d echoed his own private thought from minutes ago—a coincidence that felt like anything but. Lily tugged on his apron.

“I liked her, Daddy.”

The moon, once a cold reminder of his failures, now seemed to wink. The night felt different. Lighter. Full of a mystery he hadn’t known he needed.

“Yeah, sweetheart,” he said, his voice finding a strength he’d forgotten. “Me too. Come on, let’s go home. Tomorrow needs us.”