Mia exhaled slowly.
For the first time since coming home, she believed she didn’t have to rush back to normal.
The following day,Caleb heard the chatter of voices outside his cabin. His cue to leave.
He stepped onto the porch and greeted Joy, Naomi, Isabelle and Felicia, who came with wine bottles and dishes of food.
“Don’t worry about your girl,” said Felicia, waving a wine bottle. “She’s in good hands.”
Caleb snorted. “I’m not so sure about that. But you women have fun.”
He headed for Titus’s house and a backyard barbecue loud enough to hear from the road. Naomi had called the night before after talking to Mia and told him she needed girl time.
Mia wasthankful Caleb had given her a heads-up. Time to shower, wash her hair, and straighten the cabin.
Then she heard the cars.
One by one, her friends filled the space. Wine bottles lined the counter. Someone brought salad. Another pasta. A charcuterie plate appeared. Emelia made a dessert she claimed was nothing special and smelled like sin.
There was more food than she’d ever seen just for an evening. Somehow, that felt right.
The cabin filled with familiar voices. Hugs. Cheek kisses all around. Mia greeted everyone. Ranger pressed against her thigh, getting head rubs like he was a king.
They sat and passed bowls of chips and nuts. Argued about whether it was too early for wine and unanimously decided it wasn’t.
The living room filled. More chairs were brought in. Laughter bubbled up between stories.
Then, “I hate that this happened to you,” Joy said quietly.
Mia nodded. That was all she could manage.
“I hate this keeps happening to women, over and over,” said Felicia.
That cracked something open.
“I didn’t even realize it was that bad at first,” Mia said finally. “I thought … I thought it was just bad luck. Professional competition. I kept telling myself I was overreacting. That it was me.”
A murmur of recognition moved through the room.
“I said the same thing,” said Dani softly.
“Me too,” Emelia admitted. “Right up until I couldn’t anymore.”
The stories came then. Slowly at first. Overlapping. Details spilled out sideways.
Joy talked about her cousin, who dated a developer who wanted her land. And her gone. Tessa mentioned her ex-boyfriend was an enforcer for the mob; Dani spoke about her deceased husband, who had been looking into corruption. The stories continued.
Then it struck Mia that none of the men, including Caleb, had tried to take over or fix what couldn’t be fixed. They’d stood watch, stepped in when needed and backed off when it mattered. Protection, she realized, wasn’t loud or controlling. It was steady. Relentless. Still there when the worst was over.
No one interrupted.
Someone cried. Quietly. Then harder.
Someone else passed tissues without comment.
“I thought if I ignored it, everything would go away,” said Mia. “I wanted to believe if I didn’t push back, nothing worse would happen.”
“That’s a lie,” said Naomi, her voice steady. “We’re not responsible for managing other people’s behavior.”
