Leo glanced up from his phone to find Estelle frozen beside him, her eyes fixed on the screen, her expression stripped of every trace of the quiet happiness she’d brought home from the market. It wasn’t only fear he saw. It was the look of someone shutting herself down again, pulling away.
“Estelle?” he said softly.
She didn’t answer at once. Her gaze remained locked on the image. When she finally spoke, her voice was low and controlled.
“How many people follow this page?”
“I’m not sure,” Leo admitted, scrolling quickly to check. “About two thousand. Mostly locals, but...”
“But it’s public,” she finished for him. “Anyone could see it.”
Anyone,his bear echoed grimly.Including Margaret.
Leo’s stomach tightened as it sank in. This wasn’t some harmless community post. For Estelle, it was proof. A way to trace her. A sign that they had been here.
“I can ask them to take it down,” he said quickly. “I know Connie. She manages the page. She’d understand.”
Estelle shook her head once, sharply. “It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done.”
It does matter,his bear paced anxiously.To her, it matters.
“What can I do?” Leo asked, setting the phone down. That smiling market photo made his stomach turn.
Across the room, Adara laughed at her cartoons. The sight of her made his stomach twist. What if this brought trouble to their door?
You mean Margaret to their door,his bear moaned.
Leo lowered his voice. “Are you sure you don’t want me to ask them to take it down? Not many people have seen it. And you and Adara aren’t named.”
“The damage is already done,” Estelle said so quietly that he barely heard the words. But he heard the meaning clearly.
His bear went still.She’s going to run.
No,Leo said desperately.She’ll stay.
“It’s been a long day,” Estelle said and moved away from him.
The words landed hard.
She wants us to go,Leo said.She wants space.
Space,his bear said anxiously.What does that mean?
“Estelle,” Leo said carefully, “I understand why you’re scared. But please don’t make any decisions while you’re in this place. Let’s talk it through first.”
“There’s nothing to talk through.” Her tone stayed even, which somehow made it worse. “I’m tired, that’s all. It’s been a long day.”
“Don’t shut me out,” Leo pleaded. “I want to help you fix this.”
“I know you do,” she said. “And I love you for it.”
The words hit him so hard that he forgot to breathe. For one wild second, hope leaped in him before he saw the pain behind the words and knew this wasn’t reassurance at all.
She swallowed. “But this isn’t something you can simply fix with a toolbox from the shed.”
That caught him hard enough to leave him silent.
His bear shifted uneasily.She’s already halfway gone.
