"Oh, my baby girl."
She pulls Grace into her arms, and Grace breaks.
Just shatters.
Sobbing into her mother's shoulder, all the fear and trauma and pain she's been holding in finally coming out.
Jolene holds her, rocking slightly, murmuring things I can't hear.
I stand there, useless, watching my wife cry.
Phantom appears at my shoulder. "She'll be okay. Jolene's got her."
"I should?—"
"Give them a minute. Mother and daughter." Phantom's watching them too, his expression softer than I've seen it. "Then you can have her back."
So, I wait.
After a few minutes, Jolene pulls back, wipes Grace's tears. "Let me look at you."
She examines Grace like a mother does—checking the bruise, the bandaged wrists, looking for any other injuries.
"I'm okay, Mom. Really."
Jolene's eyes are wet. "You're not. But you will be." She looks at me. "You got her back."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Thank you." Jolene crosses to me, and before I can react, she's hugging me. "Thank you for bringing my daughter home."
I'm frozen, not sure what to do. Jolene's not my mother. We barely know each other.
But she's Grace's mom. And she's thanking me for saving her daughter.
"I'll always bring her home," I say, my voice rough.
Jolene pulls back, pats my cheek. "I know you will."
Grace is exhausted, but she insists on taking Charlie home first.
"She needs to get settled," Grace says. "Needs to be in her own space."
So, I drive us to Grace's house—our house, I guess, though we haven't really discussed living arrangements yet.
Charlie knows where she is. Starts whining excitedly in the backseat, her cone bumping against everything.
"Easy, girl." Grace laughs. "We're here."
Inside, Grace carefully removes the cone from Charlie's neck.
The dog immediately starts scratching, rolling on the floor in pure relief, making happy snorting noises.
"Poor baby," Grace murmurs, kneeling down to scratch behind Charlie's ears. "That cone was terrible, wasn't it?"
Charlie licks her face enthusiastically, tail wagging so hard her whole body moves.
I watch from the doorway as Grace helps Charlie up onto the couch—the dog's favorite spot. Charlie circles once, twice, then flops down with a massive sigh.
