I never thought Mr. Sloan, my grumpy old neighbor, had a single kind bone in his body—especially not the kind that would leave me his house. After years of petty fights, ruined roses, and exchanged glares, I was stunned to find out he’d named me in his will. But there was a catch: to inherit the house, I had to care for a frail woman named Rose, someone I’d never met before. With my flower business struggling and no other real option, I agreed, thinking it would be simple. I had no idea I was walking into a life-changing truth.

At first, Rose seemed harmless—sweet, polite, endlessly needy. Requests for carefully sliced tomatoes and early-morning pill runs slowly chipped away at my patience. But when I discovered an old photo in the garage—Rose holding a baby, standing beside a young Mr. Sloan—I began to unravel a history far deeper than I expected. The back of the photo read: “Rose and my girl, August 1985.” My world tilted. I had grown up in foster care with no idea who my parents were. Could that baby in the photo… be me?

When I confronted Rose, she quietly confirmed it. She and Mr. Sloan had been young, broke, and scared when they gave up their daughter—me. Mr. Sloan had found me years later but didn’t have the courage to tell me. That’s why he moved next door. That’s why he left the house to me—so I’d have something from him, even if he couldn’t say the words himself. And Rose? She was more than a responsibility. She was my mother. The woman I never thought I’d meet.