Phillips isn’t the kind of place that forgets. You leave, and people talk. You come back, and they speak louder. But Becky Barnes didn’t return for gossip. She came back for the boy who doesn’t know her name.

In Glitter, Eliza Grace Howard turns a simple scene, a woman standing outside a school, into a moment loaded with quiet desperation. Becky doesn’t have a plan. She has a name in her head, a face she hasn’t seen since he was three months old, and a weight she’s carried for over a decade. The school bell rings. Doors swing open. And there he is.

Nothing Left to Say

He walks out holding hands with a little boy. Their mother follows a few steps behind, smiling, calm, put-together. Becky knows that face. Donna Cavanaugh. She married Quinn. She raised Becky’s son.

They pass within feet of her. Donna even stops to say hello, polite but guarded. Benjie gives Becky a glance and a half-hearted greeting. No spark of recognition. Why would there be? She’s a stranger to him. A woman on a sidewalk. Becky forces a smile. Says nothing. Her chest feels like it’s folding in on itself. And then he’s gone again.

What Happens When You Wait Too Long?

There’s a reason Becky didn’t knock on their door or write a letter. She’s not sure what she wants, not really. Forgiveness? A second chance? Maybe just proof that he turned out okay without her. But standing there on the pavement, watching him disappear into a life she wasn’t part of, it stings in a way she didn’t expect.

Howard doesn’t use big emotions here. She doesn’t need to. Everything is said in silence. In Becky’s stillness. In the way, she doesn’t chase after him.

The Risk of Coming Home

Glitter doesn’t make Becky a saint. She ran. She used. She lost herself chasing something that never panned out. But she’s here now. Sober. Tired. And standing outside a school like someone trying to remember who she used to be.

What happens next? No one says. Not Becky. Not Quinn. Not the town that’s already labeled her a troublemaker, a runaway, a woman who left her child and doesn’t deserve another shot. But she’s here. And she’s watching.

Glitter by Eliza Grace Howard is more than a story about regret; it’s about the long road back and how sometimes the first step is just showing up. Find out what happens next. Grab your copy of Glitter today on Amazon or visit the author’s official website.