Page 41 of Only Be Mine

I was halfway down a very dangerous mental path involving cabins and stars and things I probably shouldn’t be thinking about when he appeared in the doorway, holding his phone out to me like it was a surrender flag.

“It’s for you.”

I frowned. “Who is it?”

He gave me a look. “Amy.”

Of course it was.

I took the phone, already bracing myself. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Amy sighed, and my stomach tightened. That sigh never meant good news.

I covered the receiver and mouthed I’ll be down in a minute to John, who hovered in the doorway like he didn’t trust me alone with my own best friend. Then I turned away and asked quietly, “What’s going on?”

“Jim’s brother showed up.”

I paused mid–pulling on my shorts. “Trevor?”

“Yeah. Out of nowhere.”

Jim’s brother - the golden child who married the perfect woman and then vanished. The one Jim never talked about without going quiet. The name that always came with a strange heaviness, like the story had an ending nobody wanted to say out loud.

“How bad is it?” I asked.

There was a pause. Then, softer, “I don’t think we can come.”

I closed my eyes. “Amy…”

“She threw him out,” she whispered. “Like… he’s got nowhere else to go.”

That did it. I sat down hard on the edge of the bed, rubbing my forehead, refusing to give up.

“You have to come,” I said, gentler now. “Just… bring him with you.”

Another pause. “Cate…”

“It’ll be good for him,” I blurted, talking faster than my brain could process the words coming from my mouth. “Fresh air. Distraction. Space away from - whatever this is. And I have enough food here to feed a small army, so…”

“You’re serious?”

“Yes,” I said, already nodding to myself. “We’ll figure it out.”

“And John?” she asked, voice cautious.

I hesitated half a second and glanced toward the doorway. John was still there, leaning against the frame, watching me with quiet curiosity, and something else too. Like he’d already decided I wasn’t a problem he needed to manage. Like he trusted me.

“He won’t mind,” I said, and meant it.

Amy exhaled. “Let me talk to Jim.”

When I hung up, John stepped closer. “Everything okay?”

“Amy’s coming,” I said. “With Jim. And his brother.”

He blinked once. “Okay.”

Just like that.