Chairs flip onto tables one by one. The register clicks shut. It’s the in-between hour where the place isoursagain instead of public territory.
I’m wiping down the bar for the third time because apparently that’s who I am now. A man with feelings and a sanitizing rag.
Zane’s hauling the last of the trash toward the back door, movements efficient. He works hard, trying to sand down the day.
Ryder’s counting the till, posture straight, expression stoic. Every bill aligned. Every movement controlled. If he keeps everything in lines, nothing spills.
We’re quiet for a while.
Then I say it.
“She’s not staying.”
Neither of them looks up.
But I see it. The shift.
Zane sets the trash bag down slower than necessary. Ryder’s thumb drags once over the chain at his chest. That silver ring leash he pretends no one notices.
“She was never planning to,” Zane says.
“She’s passing through,” I add. “Ashes. Closure. Two weeks. That was the pitch. I know she’s been with us for longer than that already, but I still don’t think we can be sure she’ll stay.”
Ryder finishes stacking the bills before he answers.
“She hasn’t bought anything solid,” he says evenly. “She hasn’t changed her mailing address. Her car’s still packed likeshe could leave tomorrow. I guess we do need to consider that possibility.”
Zane leans against the back counter, arms folding.
“She doesn’t unpack,” he murmurs. “Ever, so maybe…”
“That doesn’t change anything,” I say.
Ryder finally looks up at me. “No?”
“No,” I repeat. “I didn’t plan to give a damn either. Then we moved her in and gave her a job, so she started repainting your walls and reorganizing my personality.”
Zane huffs a quiet laugh.
Ryder doesn’t smile. But his eyes aren’t as cold.
“If you love something,” Ryder says slowly, “you don’t make it a target.”
“Yeah,” I shoot back. “You’ve said that like six times.”
“And if she leaves,” he continues, ignoring me, “she’s exposed for nothing. She doesn’t plan on staying anywhere. This is a ‘finding herself’ journey. Aurora has been very clear about that. I don’t know if any of us can be enough to change that.”
Silence.
Because that’s the question.
I toss the rag down.
“Maybe we’re not,” I say. “Maybe she leaves. Maybe this blows up spectacularly. But I’m not pretending I don’t feel it just because it might end.”
Zane nods once. “Same.”
Ryder studies us as two reckless recruits.
