"You don’t have to know today," she says. "But youwill. I believe that, and I believe in you."
Her words strike something deep. Something that feels a little like hope and a little like grief learning how to breathe.
"I don’t know if I’ll ever be okay," I murmur.
"You don’t have to be," she replies. "Just be real. That’s enough."
Maybe healing doesn’t start with forgiveness.
Maybe it starts with someone believing you can.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The Ghost of Her
Brooks
I stand in the doorway of her bedroom, staring at the neatly made bed like it might still give up her ghost.
Ellie left four weeks ago. No goodbye. No note. Just… gone.
She slipped out before the sun came up, like she was never really here. Like everything we shared—the late-night talks, the porch kisses, the way her body melted into mine like it belonged there—was just a pause in her real life. A detour.
I keep wondering if I was just a layover between flights. Some soft place to land until the world started spinning again. Maybe I was never meant to be a chapter, just a line break. Still, I’d give anything to read it all over again.
I take a sip of cold coffee. It’s bitter and stale, but I don’t care. I just keep staring at that damn bed. Every detail feels like a punch to the chest. The pillows she fluffed. The throw blanket angled perfectly on the edge of the bed. That vanilla scent that still lingers in the air like she might come walking through the door any second.
Memories crash in. Her skin. Her breathy moans. The way she buried her face in my chest like I was the safest place she’d ever known.
I told myself not to fall. Knew better than to believe she might stay. But damn it, I fell anyway.
She’s Elowen Donovan—smart, stubborn, beautiful in a way that makes your ribs ache. Of course, she was always going to leave. This town’s too small for someone like her.
Jasper’s pissed. Hasn’t said her name since the day she left. He thinks she abandoned us all over again. Maybe he’s right.
But I can’t be angry. Not really.
Because I saw the way she carried everything on her shoulders while she was here. Held this broken family together with shaking hands and still managed to smile. She gave us all the pieces of herself until there was nothing left to give.
And then… she packed what was left of her and disappeared.
And I let her.
Because I knew she was suffocating here.
I used to catch her standing on the porch at night, eyes fixed on the horizon like she could see the edge of the world from there. I should’ve asked what she was looking for. Maybe she would’ve told me she was already halfway gone.
I saw it before anyone else did. Hell, maybe I always saw it. That quiet unraveling behind her eyes. The way she smiled like she was holding her breath. The way her hands shook when no one was looking.
I can still see her crouched in front of her mom’s locked door, whispering through the wood, promising coffee and sunlight if she’d just open it. She never stopped trying, even when no one answered. That’s what kills me most. How she gave everything and still believed we were worth saving.
I shift my weight in the hallway as Jasper steps out of his room, his blond hair a flat mess like he hasn’t slept. He barelytalks to me these days. He’s too pissed off, too hurt. Says I never should’ve ended up in bed with Ellie.
I wish I could say I agree with him. I don’t. I can’t undo any of it. And honestly? I wouldn’t. Not if it meant holding her for even one more night.
"Hey," I say, voice low.
Jasper narrows his eyes. "We need to get Mom out of the house today. I’m tired of Elowen thinking we’re all just stuck here while she’s off living her shiny life in LA."
