She took one look at me, and I knew she understood. Not what happened, but enough. She was the type of friend who never needs an explanation for my silences, instead she saw every piece I try to hide.
“Hey, you two,” she said softly, pulling Harper into a hug.
Her eyes came back to mine.
“Rough case?”
I shook my head too quickly. “Yeah.”
She didn’t call me out, sensing how close I was to losing composure, and just watched me instead.
Harper tugged on her arm, already pulling her toward the living room, talking a mile a minute.
“You okay?” Cami asked gently, concern etched across her features.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Instead, my throat tightened and my eyes burned.
“I lost,” I said finally, my voice smaller than I meant it to be.
Her expression softened, instantly understanding without needing any more words. “Oh, Dani…”
“I should’ve done more,” I said, the words tumbling out now. “I keep replaying it, and I know there were things I could’ve done better.”
“Hey,” she said gently, stepping closer. “Stop.”
“I didn’t fight hard enough…”
“You did. I know you did,” she countered.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do,” she said, her voice calm but firm. “Because I knowyou.”
She truly did, yet somehow that didn’t help the gutted feeling sitting deep in my chest.
“I feel like I failed her,” I admitted, my voice breaking as shame and helplessness rose up. “Like she had no one and I walked in there thinking I could be enough—and I wasn’t.”
“You showed up for her,” she said softly. “Tried your best. That’s all that you could have done.”
“It wasn’t enough.”
Her eyes held mine as she said, “That doesn’t mean you weren’t.”
The words settled into the empty place where insecurity had started to take root.
Not the case.
Not the verdict.
Me.
I wiped at my face quickly, overwhelmed by how fast everything had unraveled.
“I can’t stay,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.
She nodded immediately. “Okay, go. I’ve got Harper.”
That was all I needed to hear before I got back into my car and drove, with no destination. Just the road stretched ahead endlessly. The late-afternoon sun dipped low as the sky softened, becoming almost peaceful. Yet everything inside me still felt sharp, too raw for this gentle dusk.
