Bea guided Charley toward the table and pressed her into a chair like she had decided sitting was non-negotiable. Glen took the seat beside her, angled slightly so he could keep watching her face without making it obvious. Pierce sat on her other side, close enough that his knee brushed hers under the table. Ray and Jessica moved around the kitchen with practiced ease, sliding bowls and plates into place. The guys helped too—Cole grabbed cups, Zane moved napkins, Seth set the grilled cheese platter down like it was a mission-critical delivery.
Charley stared at the food for a moment like she couldn’t quite believe normal things existed after everything that had happened.
Her stomach growled again, and this time she didn’t feel embarrassed. She felt grateful.
Bea reached over and squeezed her hand. “Eat,” she said softly. “You need it.”
Charley nodded and picked up her spoon, the metal warm between her fingers. The first bite was almost painful—her throat tight, her body still half in shock—but the heat spread through her chest and settled something inside her.
Pierce’s hand found her knee under the table and squeezed gently. Charley turned her head and looked at him, her eyes full of gratitude and fear and exhaustion all at once.
She didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to. Because Pierce’s gaze held hers, and in that look was the promise he’d already made her in the Jeep, in his bedroom, in every quiet touch tonight.
You’re not alone.
???
Later, after dinner, as everyone was helping clean up, Glen motioned with his head for Pierce to follow him out back.
Pierce kissed Charley’s cheek and told her that he would be right back.
He stepped out onto the porch and met Glen near the railing. Pierce could tell that Charley’s uncle was not handling her situation well.
Glen finally spoke without looking at him. “You’re doing right by her.”
It hit Pierce harder than he expected. Because it wasn’t casual approval. It was something earned.
Pierce cleared his throat. “I’m trying.”
Glen nodded once. “I can see that.”
Silence stretched between them for a few moments.
Then Glen turned his head and looked Pierce straight in the eye. “I know that we spoke briefly earlier. But I need to know what kind of man you are,” he said plainly. “Not your rank. Not your job. Not your reputation. You.”
Pierce didn’t blink. “Okay.”
Glen’s jaw worked once, like he was holding back a lot and trying to choose what mattered most. “Charley has survived a lot,” he said, voice roughening around the edges. “More than she should have ever had to. And she’s learned to keep moving even when she’s bleeding inside. She smiles. She makes jokes. She’ll tell you she’s fine while she’s coming apart.”
Pierce’s chest tightened. He had seen pieces of that already. She would try to lighten the moment before it got too heavy, the way she apologized for crying, as if it were an inconvenience to the room.
Glen continued, quieter now. “When she gets scared, she goes quiet. Not because she doesn’t trust you. Not because she doesn’t care.” His eyes sharpened. “Because she thinks if she lets people see how bad it is, she’ll be a burden.”
Pierce swallowed. “Yeah.”
“And she’ll try to handle it alone,” Glen added. “Because she had to. After her dad… after her brother… she learned early that if she didn’t keep herself together, nobody else was going to do it for her.”
The words landed like a weight.
Pierce stared out into the dark for a second, jaw clenched hard enough to ache. “I’m not letting her do that this time.”
Glen studied him. “That’s what I needed to hear.”
Pierce turned slightly, facing him more fully. “She doesn’t have to be tough with me,” Pierce said, his voice low but firm. “I don’t need her to perform okay-ness. If she wants to sit in silence, I’ll sit with her. If she wants to talk, I’ll listen. If shewants to fall apart, she can do it right in front of me, and I will hold her while she does it.”
A muscle jumped in Glen’s cheek, and Pierce could tell it meant something to him even if he didn’t show it.
Glen’s eyes flicked toward the window where Charley stood inside with her aunt, laughing at something.
