Page 29 of Safe With You

Sometimes it’s a voice that says,

“I’m glad you came.”

Sometimes it’s a chair someone saved without realizing they were saving it for you.

It’s the smell of coffee lingering in the air.

The sound of strangers clapping like they’ve known your heart for years.

The courage to speak...

and the grace of someone choosing to listen.

I used to think home was a place I had to find.

Now I think it’s something we build⁠—

one conversation,

one kindness,

one open door at a time.

Maybe home isn’t where you came from.

Maybe it’s where you finally stop wondering if you belong.

The last line settled over the bookstore like a held breath, and for a second nobody moved.

The applause lingered for a few seconds after Denise stepped away from the microphone. Mrs. Williams dabbed discreetly at the corner of her eye with the tissue she’d tucked into her sleeve before the event even started, while the older gentleman beside her reached over to squeeze her hand. Rachel sat a little straighter than she had before, her notebook resting open across her lap now instead of clutched tightly against her chest. Whatever nerves she’d walked in with hadn’t disappeared, but they no longer looked quite as heavy.

I lifted my camera again. A quiet smile. A tear quickly brushed away. Someone nodding because a line had found them before they were ready for it. Those were the moments people forgot happened until someone handed them a photograph months later.

Click.

I lowered the camera just long enough to glance toward the side of the room, where Luna stood near the café speaking quietly with Maya while absentmindedly gathering empty mugs from one of the tables. Even now, with the event finally underway, she hadn’t really stopped working. She smiled at something Maya said before taking the stack of mugs from her hands and disappearing behind the counter long enough to rinse them out. By the time she stepped back onto the floor, another guest had already stopped her with a question, and without missing a beat, she answered it with the same patience she’d shown everyone else that evening.

It was funny. Most people would’ve assumed the microphone was the center of the room. I wasn’t so sure anymore.

The applause carried Denise back to her seat, and I caught the smile she tried—and failed—to hide as people thanked her for sharing a piece of herself with a room full of strangers. Luna met her at the edge of the platform with a quick hug and a few quiet words I couldn’t make out before stepping back in front of the microphone.

“I think we can all agree Denise set the bar pretty high,” she said, earning an easy laugh from the audience. “Let’s give her one more round of applause.”

The room happily obliged.

She waited until the clapping settled before glancing down at the paper in her hand.

“Our next participant is joining us for her very first open mic.”

Rachel.

Even from where I stood, I saw her shoulders tense.

She looked toward Luna, then back at the notebook in her lap, almost as if she’d forgotten she’d written her own name on the sign-up sheet.

A few people turned in their seats, smiling encouragingly as Luna called her name again.

“There she is,” Luna said, her voice carrying just enough warmth to reach the second row. “Take your time.”