“And that’s okay,” Olivia says immediately. “Grief rearranges you. You’re allowed to take a minute to figure out who you are after it.”
That lands deeper than the council meeting ever could.
“I thought scattering her ashes would feel like an ending,” I admit. “But it didn’t. It felt like… a door.”
Sloane nods once. “Endings are usually administrative. Doors are emotional.”
“That’s obnoxiously accurate,” I say.
“Thank you.”
I swallow.
“And now there’s this review. This scrutiny. And part of me wants to run because this is exactly the kind of mess I didn’t come here for.”
“But?” Ivy prompts.
“But,” I say slowly, “another part of me is angry. Because I watched Ryder stand there and not flinch. And I watched Finn stop joking. And I watched Zane go still in that way he does when he’s calculating exits.”
They all clock that.
“And I thought,” I continue, “if someone is going to try to box them in with gossip and fear, I don’t want to be the person who quietly slips out the side door.”
“Okay,” Sloane says finally, businesslike. “So you’re grieving. You’re falling for a town you weren’t planning to love. And now there’s political drama.”
“When you say it like that…”
“It sounds easy,” Olivia interrupts gently.
I blink at her.
Delaney nods. “Staying when it would be easier to leave? That’s not weakness.”
“It’s inconvenient,” I mutter.
“Most brave things are,” Ivy says. “Plus, you have us now, if it’s friends you want…”
Lani sets another napkin down in front of me as if I might cry, which is rude but thoughtful.
“Has anything happened outside of town meetings?” Delaney asks.
I hesitate.
Truck.
Window latch.
Being watched without being touched.
“Yes,” I admit. “Little things. Enough to make you question if you’re paranoid.”
Sloane doesn’t even blink. “Paranoia’s underrated. It’s just pattern recognition with better PR.”
Olivia nods. “You don’t ignore your gut. Especially not when it lines up with behavior.”
“You’re all being very calm about this,” I say.
Ivy smiles sweetly. “Oh, we’re not calm. We’re just strategic.”
