"I did."
"That's very... high school."
"I'm making up for lost time." His expression turned serious. "I should've done this years ago."
Grace's throat tightened. She clutched the elephant to her chest. "We can't go backward."
"No," Luke agreed. "But we can go forward."
They walked on.
They were halfwaythrough a shared funnel cake—Luke's idea, Grace's skeptical agreement—when Eli appeared.
"Hey, Gracie."
Grace looked up, powdered sugar on her fingers, to find her brother standing with his hands shoved in his pockets. He looked... uncertain. Which was unusual for Eli.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Grace said. She gestured with the elephant. "Luke won me this."
Eli's mouth twitched. "I can see that." His eyes slid to Luke. The two men studied each other for a long moment.
"Thank you," Eli said finally. "For earlier. For her."
Luke straightened slightly. "You don't need to thank me."
"Yeah, I do." Eli's jaw worked. "And for—everything else. The charges. The help."
Grace looked between them, something settling in her chest. Her brother and her... Luke. Not at odds. Not enemies.
Just two men who both cared about her.
"You're her brother," Luke said simply. "That means you matter."
Eli nodded once, sharp and final. Then he looked at Grace. "You good here? Or do you want me to?—"
"I'm good," Grace said softly.
Eli studied her face, then smiled—genuine, relieved. "Yeah. You are." He clapped Luke on the shoulder. "Don't fuck this up, Bennett."
"Not planning on it."
Eli walked away, and then paused.
Grace followed his gaze without thinking.
A woman stood near the edge of the yard, cardigan buttoned, hair in a bun, laughing softly at something someone said.
Eli watched her for exactly three seconds.
Then he seemed to remember where he was, shoved his hands back into his pockets, and kept walking.
Grace looked at Luke. Luke looked at Grace.
"That went better than I expected," she said.
"He loves you," Luke said. "Of course it did."
