Page 271 of Where We Stay

He always knows.

His arm slides around my waist when he walks past, pulling me against his side.

“You good?” he murmurs.

I nod. “Yeah.”

Dean kisses my temple before going back to the coffee machine.

A year ago, I stood at the lighthouse crying so hard I could barely see while he asked me to marry him. A year before that, I was still learning how to sleep without checking every lock twice.

Sometimes, I think about the woman I was before Hartwell. The one who believed letting people in would only give them another way to hurt her.

She wasn’t completely wrong.

People can hurt you. They can leave and disappoint you.

But they can also stay.

Every now and then, usually on a Friday or Saturday night, I still pick up a shift at The Breakwater with G. I don’t need the money. Not really. I just like the sticky bar top, the music that’s always slightly too loud and Bill yelling because someone forgot to restock the glasses.

Most of all, I like remembering the woman who first walked through those doors.

Scared. Suspicious. Trying to make herself small enough that no one would notice she was running from something.

She had no idea Hartwell would become hers before she even realized it was happening.

Theo starts banging both hands against his highchair tray.

“Mamamama.”

I freeze.

Dean freezes too.

Aspen gasps so loudly that Theo jumps.

“Oh my God,” she whispers.

I stare at my son. “What did you say?”

Theo grins at me.

“Mama.”

My eyes immediately fill with tears.

Dean laughs quietly. “Baby—”

“Shut up,” I tell him, already crying.

He lifts both hands. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You were going to.”

“I was going to say congratulations.”

“Liar.”