I don’t answer that.
Because—
Yeah.
“Walk me through it again,” I say instead, already unlocking Kathryn’s door and stepping inside.
“It’s not complicated,” Anna says. “You toast the muffins, cook the bacon, poach the eggs?—”
I make it halfway into the kitchen before I stop.
Because she’s there.
Standing near the counter.
Eyes red.
Face tear-streaked.
Looking like she just got hit with something she didn’t see coming.
Everything in me shifts.
Fast.
“Hey,” I say, already dropping the bag onto the counter a little harder than I mean to. The eggs rattle dangerously, but I don’t care. “I’m going to call you back.”
“Doug—wait?—”
I hang up.
Cross the room in three steps.
“What happened?” I ask, reaching for her.
She doesn’t answer right away.
Just looks at me like she’s trying to figure something out.
Or like she already did.
“You’re here,” she says, voice small.
“Yeah. Of course I’m here.”
Her breath shakes.
And that’s all it takes.
I pull her into me without thinking, one hand coming up to the back of her head, holding her steady against my chest.
“Hey,” I say again, softer now. “Talk to me.”
She presses her face into my shirt, and I feel the way she exhales—sharp, uneven, like she’s been holding it in.
“I thought—” she starts, then stops.
I wait.
