“Anyway,” Mrs. Henderson continues. “It’s good to see you back at work. Shows real character.”
“Thank you,” I say, turning to retrieve her prescription. “How have you been feeling? Any dizziness with the new medication?”
And just like that, we slip into the familiar rhythm of pharmacist and patient, the conversation steering away from my trauma and back to her health. I can do this, I realize. I can pretend everything is normal, even when it isn’t.
As the morning progresses, more customers come in. Some are awkward, avoiding eye contact or the subject altogether. Others are like Mrs. Henderson, full of concern and questions. A few pretend nothing happened at all, which I find I prefer. Each interaction gets a little easier, my shoulders gradually relaxing as I fall back into the routine of my job.
During a quiet moment, Payton brings me a cup of coffee from the café section of the store. “You’re doing great,” she tells me, bumping her shoulder against mine. “Seriously. I don’t know if I could have come back so soon.”
I wrap my hands around the warm cup. “I almost didn’t,” I admit. “If it weren’t for Devlin…” I trail off, not sure how to explain what he’s done for me, how he’s made me feel safe enough to face this.
“He seems intense,” Payton says, watching me carefully. “In a good way, I mean. Like, he’d move mountains for you if he had to.”
I smile, thinking about how accurately that describes him. “Yeah, I think he would.”
“So that’s a thing now?” she asks, eyes dancing with curiosity. “You and the big, scary rancher?”
“It’s…something,” I say, echoing what I told Lennon. “I’m not sure what yet.”
“Well, whatever it is, it looks good on you,” she says with a wink. “Even with the bruises.”
The rest of the morning passes without incident. I help customers, fill prescriptions, check inventory—all the normal tasks that used to fill my days before everything changed. There are moments when the anxiety spikes, like when a man in a dark hoodie walks in—it turns out he just has a cold and needs a decongestant. Or when I hear a loud crash from the grocery section—just a display of canned soup knocked over by a child. Each time, I breathe through it, reminding myself that I’m safe, that what happened was an isolated incident.
By the time my shortened shift is ending, I’m exhausted but proud. I made it through. I didn’t run. I didn’t break down. I just did my job, one minute at a time, until the hours had passed.
As I’m gathering my things to leave, I glance out the front windows and see Devlin’s truck pulling up. Right on time, just like he promised. Something warm unfurls in my chest at the sight of him, this man who’s become my safe harbor in such a short time.
“Your ride’s here,” Payton says with a knowing grin. “Same time tomorrow?”
“Same time tomorrow,” I confirm, surprising myself with how much I mean it. Today was hard, but I did it. Tomorrow will be a little easier, and the day after that, even more so.
As I walk toward the exit, Joseph calls my name. “Atlee, wait.” He comes over, awkward in the way he always is when dealing with anything personal. “You did good today. Real good.”
“Thank you,” I say, touched by the rare praise.
“And, uh…take care getting home, all right?” he adds, his eyes darting to where Devlin waits in his truck. There’s something in his expression I can’t quite read.
“I will,” I assure him, before pushing through the door into the late afternoon sunlight.
As I walk toward Devlin’s truck, I feel lighter than I have in days. I didn’t let fear win today. I faced it head-on and came out on the other side. Now I’m going home, not to my empty apartment, but to a cabin in the mountains with a man who makes me feel safe and seen.
Not a bad way to end the day, all things considered.
TEN
DEVLIN
I park nextto the curb and go to get out of my truck, but Atlee comes running out before I can. She opens the passenger-side door and hops up. “Hey.” I reach over, grabbing her chin and pulling her gaze to mine. “You doing okay?”
“Yeah.” She smiles. “Today was a lot better than I expected it to be.”
The anxiety I’ve been feeling since I dropped her off lessens. The tightness in my chest eases. “Good, I’m really glad to hear that. My brother and Aubree invited us over to the big house for dinner tonight. Are you feeling up to it? It’ll just be us four. I told them if you weren’t, we wouldn’t do it.”
My gaze follows her hands as she runs her palms up and down her scrub-covered thighs. “That would be fun. I know Aubree, not as well as Lennon does, but I like her. She’s always been an amazing friend to Lennon, and in turn, to me. Maybe it’s time we stop keeping ourselves hidden from everyone else?”
“I don’t know.” I give her a grin. “I like keeping you to myself.”
She grins back at me. “Yeah, but it’s probably not completely healthy mentally.”
