Page 43 of Only Be Mine

His mouth twitched like he almost wanted to smile. “Thanks.”

Amy hovered nearby, worried and hopeful and exhausted all at once.

“Come on,” I said, turning back toward the cabin. “Let’s get you inside. You’ll love it.”

John came up behind me, bags in both hands, calm as ever. He gave Jim a man-to-man nod, then looked at Trevor like he was just… a person. Not a problem.

For reasons I couldn’t name, that mattered.

We hauled everything in, laughter and small talk and Baby weaving between legs, the whole thing feeling like it was going to be fun.

Until it wasn’t.

The moment we hit the upstairs hallway, the air shifted. Three rooms. One master. One smaller. One smallest. And suddenly it wasn’t a cabin trip, it was a math problem.

And I sucked at math.

Trevor paused in the doorway of the room Amy and Jim had been gravitating toward, as if he’d followed the energy and didn’t realize what he was doing until he’d already done it.

“Uh,” Jim started, voice careful.

Amy’s smile faltered.

Trevor looked between them, confusion flashing across his face like he’d stepped into a room mid-argument. “I can…” he began, but the words died before they could land.

Everyone looked at me, like I had the answer.

And I did. I knew what I should do. I should fix it. I should rearrange things and smooth it over and keep everyone happy…

Before I could open my mouth, John stepped forward.

“We’ll take the couch,” he said easily.

I turned to him, startled. “John…”

“It’s fine,” he said, already lifting our bags like it was a decision he’d made an hour ago. “It’s a hide-a-bed. We’ll be okay.”

Something twisted in my chest. Gratitude, guilt, love, all tangled together.

Because he didn’t say it like a martyr, he said it like it wasn’t even a question.

Amy’s eyes softened. Jim let out a breath. Trevor looked like he might argue, but didn’t. Like he didn’t know what he was allowed to want.

John walked downstairs without complaint, without resentment, without asking for anything in return.

I stood there with the weight of everyone else’s needs in my hands and felt that strange, unfamiliar sting of… this is what being chosen feels like.

Quietly and without conditions.

Baby settled at my feet, curling close like she understood exactly where she was needed.

Chapter 14

Cate

July - Twelve Years Ago

The sun hit me full in the face the second I stepped onto the front porch again, maybe an hour after we’d pulled in.