It has always been home.
And for a while there, Mike tried to take that from me.
Not just the money.Not just the house.
He tried to take my footing.My sense of belonging.He made me feel like I was small and foolish and lucky to be chosen.Like without him I’d be adrift.
Standing here now, with the mountains visible through the window and the mill running smooth behind me, I realize something sharp and clear—I was never adrift.
He was.
And when he left, he didn’t just abandon us.
He tried to strip me of this place too.He tried to make me doubt that I deserved it.
The very thought of him marching into my Lunchroom, using Evan’s name like a weapon, criticizing my life as if he still had a say—it makes my stomach churn.
He doesn’t want Evan.
Not the way he claims.
He wants control.He wants to matter again.
But the thing is, he doesn’t.
Not here.
Not anymore.
He has no claim on me whatsoever, and he knows it now too because J.T.Lawrence walked through that door and he laid it all out for him.
Like the protector he is.
And the second J.T.showed up like that, something inside me steadied.
He didn’t shout or posture for show.
He stood there like a wall.Like the mountain itself had grown legs and decided to stand guard.
I probably shouldn’t like the way he handled it.I shouldn’t get all hot and bothered by the way he stepped in front of me or the way his voice dropped low and dangerous when he warned Mike off.
It was heavy.Possessive.
A little terrifying.
But the truth?
I loved it.
Because for once, someone didn’t make me feel like I was this albatross.Like I was a crutch, or worse, just something they settled for.
J.T.didn’t take my voice.He didn’t silence me.
He simply made it clear that I am not alone anymore.
And, Jesus Christ, that feels incredible.
When his hand closes around mine, it’s not a cage.
