The terminal was bright and familiar—palmetto banners, local art, voices with that Lowcountry stretch. People moved like they belonged. I moved like I belonged.
And Cassian moved like he belonged anywhere.
He stayed half a step behind my shoulder through the crowd, not crowding me, not giving me space either. His hand brushed my lower back once—light, steady. A touch that wasn’t a shove or a guide. Just … presence.
It shouldn’t have made my pulse jump.
It did.
At baggage claim, I watched luggage slide out in tired loops, and caught our reflection in the polished metal of a column.
Me: composed, controlled, hair pulled back, mouth neutral.
Him: dark layers, hands loose at his sides, shoulders relaxed, eyes scanning without looking like he was scanning.
We didn’t look like a mistake.
That unsettled me more than if we had.
My phone buzzed in my palm.
Mom.
I froze just long enough to register Cassian’s attention sharpening.
“You can answer it,” he said quietly.
I didn’t look at him. “I wasn’t asking.”
“I know.”
I stepped a few paces away, anyway, because old habits die hard.
“Hi,” I said.
Her voice came through bright and tight at the same time. “Did you land?”
“Yes. We just got off the plane.”
“Good. Okay.” A pause. A breath she didn’t take all the way. “Are you settled? Are you … alone?”
I glanced over my shoulder.
Cassian stood at the edge of the carousel like he owned the air around him, not because he forced it, but because people made room without thinking. He wasn’t watching me directly. He didn’t need to. He felt me.
“No,” I said carefully. “I’m not alone. Why?”
“I—” My mother stopped. Started again. “I’m coming to Charleston tomorrow.”
The words landed with a dull thud in my chest.
“You’re what?”
My mother had never come to visit me in Charleston before. Not once. Not when I moved. Not when I bought my first place. Not for birthdays or promotions or the nights I told her I missed home. Charleston had remained mine alone.
So, her saying she was coming here—without prompting, without ceremony—didn’t feel casual.
It felt seismic.
