Leanne Carter looks normal from the outside. Lunches packed. School forms signed. Coffee poured into a chipped mug that still holds. But inside her mind, she is both defendant and judge—measuring her worth by damage, rewriting every mistake as a life sentence. One year sober from meth, Leanne is learning the truth nobody sees: recovery isn’t one triumphant moment. It’s the unseen labor of staying—through cravings that arrive like weather, bills that feel like shame, and a past she can’t name without shaking. With her husband Vic’s steady love, her sponsor’s no-nonsense mercy, and a faith that meets her in ordinary hours instead of erasing them, Leanne begins the hardest work of all: letting herself be loved without punishment. As her daughter June’s anxiety exposes the cost of silence, Leanne must decide what kind of mother she will be now—not perfect, not saved-by-a-speech, but present. Things I Did Clean is a tender, raw contemporary novel about sobriety, self-worth, and the quiet courage of choosing truthfully onward.