“Judge,” I reply, because apparently I’m capable of manners even while internally unraveling.
She steps closer, lowering her voice just enough to make it private without making it secret. “I heard you handled yourself well.”
I blink.
That was not what I expected.
“I… got kidnapped,” I say, because facts feel important here.
“And survived,” she counters.
A beat.
Then, quieter, “That matters.”
It does.
I nod slowly. “Thank you.”
She inclines her head once, as if we’ve just completed some kind of exchange that doesn’t need to be named, and then turns to Arlo to ask about licensing permits like this is just another day in Coyote Glen.
Which, I guess, it is, because this town doesn’t stop. It adjusts, absorbs, and then it keeps going…
By the time the afternoon slows, everything has shifted.
The fear is still there, tucked under my ribs, ready to spike if a door slams too hard or footsteps come too fast, but there’s more layered over it now.
People, support, the quiet, unspoken agreement that I’m not alone in this. The danger came, exactly what they were worried about, but they have chosen us anyway. Chosen me.
Coyote Glen may gossip, but it protects its own, no matter what.
The thought settles into me like a second heartbeat.
I slip upstairs before I can get overwhelmed by it. The kitchen light is on. I step in and find them there, all three of them.
Ryder at the counter, hands braced like he’s holding himself in place.
Zane at the table, something taken apart in front of him, tools laid out in careful lines.
Finn leaning back in his chair, one arm slung over the back, like he’s pretending this is just another evening and not… everything.
They all look up at the same time.
No one says anything.
And something in me, that I’ve been holding together with careful smiles and steady breaths andI’m okayandI’m fineandI can handle this,cracks.
My throat closes, and before I can stop it, the tears are there. Relieved, sad, confused… I don’t know really.
“Oh,” I breathe, startled, like I didn’t see it coming.
Finn is out of his chair first, with Zane right behind him. Ryder doesn’t move as fast, but when he does, it’s like gravity shifts with him.
“Hey,” Finn says softly, hands hovering like he doesn’t know where to put them and doesn’t want to get it wrong.
Zane steps in closer. “You’re okay.”
“I know,” I say, and then I’m crying harder because Idoknow, and it doesn’t make it stop.
