Something between a warning and a blessing moves across his face, too complicated to name, then he walks inside.
I stand on the steps for a minute, breathing.
Then I follow him.
I don't hear the conversation. I don't need to.
Garrett finds Coin in the main room, and whatever he says, he says it low enough that the brothers around them pretend not to hear.
I watch from the hallway—Garrett's jaw tight, his arms crossed, his whole body coiled with the kind of restrained intensity that makes men twice his size take a step back.
Coin stands still. Those blue-gray eyes on Garrett. Listening.
Not defensive, not apologetic. Just present. Taking it in the way he takes in everything—completely, without flinching.
I can't hear the words, but I can read the shapes of them on Garrett's mouth.
My sister. Not a fling. You understand me.
And then Coin says something. One sentence. Short. His mouth barely moves.
Garrett goes still. Stares at him for a long beat. Then he nods—once, sharp—and walks away.
That's it. No handshake, no chest-bumping, no dramatic declaration.
Just two men, a sentence I couldn't hear, and a nod that apparently settled it.
Later—much later, after dinner with Vanna and Waylon, after Garrett disappears into the garage with a wrench and his silence—I corner Vanna.
"What did Coin say to him?"
Vanna grins. She heard. Of course she heard. This woman has ears like a bat and a complete inability to mind her own business, and I love her for both.
"He said, 'I know exactly what she is.'"
Five words. That's all it took.
I sit with that for a minute.
I know exactly what she is.
Not:I'll take care of her.
Not:I won't hurt her.
Not a promise or an assurance or any of the things a lesser man would say to a woman's protective older brother.
Just a statement. Simple. Complete.
The kind of sentence that a man who uses words like they cost money only spends when he means every syllable.
I know exactly what she is.
I think about that all the way home. I'm still thinking about it when my phone rings.
It's Coin, and his voice is different.
Stripped.
