The fear of seeing Gerald’s truck.
The fear of him outside my window.
The fear of him waving from the pasture.
The sound of bullets breaking through my kitchen window.
All of it.
Beast held me through every tear.
Didn’t rush me.
Didn’t tell me to stop.
Just held me.
Dad came up behind us.
His eyes were wet too.
Though he would probably deny it until the day he died.
He put one hand on Beast’s shoulder.
“You got her safe.”
Beast looked at him.
Then nodded once.
“I will always keep her safe.”
Dad studied him.
Long.
Hard.
Then his expression softened.
“I know you will.”
Something warm moved through my chest.
Something bigger than relief.
Something that felt like coming home.
Beast looked down at me.
His thumb brushed away a tear.
“You ready to go inside?”
I looked toward the house.
Toward the broken window.
