Chapter 25
The kitchen smelled like home. Flour and yeast and the warm comfort of biscuits baking in the oven.
Maggie stood at the island, mixing potato salad the way her mother had taught her twenty years ago.
Mayo. Mustard. Celery. Pickles. The rhythm was automatic, muscle memory taking over while her mind drifted.
Through the window over the sink, she could see the men gathered around the grill on the back patio.
Her dad and Jason were standing together, both holding sodas.
Her brothers, Tyler, Mason, and Caleb, were talking with Reece's brothers.
And Reece, standing slightly apart with a beer in his hand, had that quiet, observant expression she knew so well.
"So, explain this to me again," her mother said from the stove as she wiped flour-dusted hands on her apron and turned to look at Maggie. "You're running the entire offshore platform now?"
Maggie smiled. "No, Mom. I’m only the chief operating officer. A lot of people work to keep the platform going. I worry about personnel and systems.”
“Are you still calling it Darkwater?” her mom asked.
“It's called the Darkwater Security Initiative. DSI for short. We provide protective intelligence and maritime security in international waters."
Her mother's brow furrowed. "That sounds dangerous."
"The only thing dangerous is Mother Nature.
It's not like it was before," Maggie assured her. The memory of the maintenance bay, of falling, of hands shoving her toward empty air, flickered through her mind, but she pushed it away. Her mom could never know about that, or knowing her Mom, she’d be home wrapped in bubble wrap and stored in the root cellar so she wouldn’t get hurt again.
Her mom was a fierce protector of her children.
"Guardian completely restructured everything.
We have a new mandate, with new oversight, plus tangible and ethical guidelines.
We're not selling intelligence or exploiting information. We're using it to protect people."
Faith King looked up from the vegetables she was chopping.
Reece's mother moved with the same quiet precision her son had.
Elegant even in casual clothes. "Guardian takes that very seriously.
The ethical framework, I mean. Guardian demands accountability.
It's why Jason helped to build the company the way he did. "
Rachel, Reece's sister, glanced over her shoulder from the sink where she was washing strawberries. "Reece told me that. Maggie helped design most of the new guidelines. The charter that governs DSI? That was her."
Heat rose to Maggie's cheeks. "I just outlined what I thought it should be. Guardian's legal team formalized it."
"Don't sell yourself short," Faith said gently.
Her voice carried warmth that reminded Maggie of Reece.
It had the same steadiness. "Jason told me what you did and how you found the corruption.
You risked everything to expose it. That takes courage.
And integrity. Those are the qualities Guardian values most."
Maggie's mother looked at her with that particular expression mothers had. Pride mixed with relief mixed with residual worry. Hopefully, her Mom didn’t catch the “risked everything” comment. She knew she hadn’t. Her face said everything, but she smiled and said, "That's my girl."
Maggie focused on the potato salad, mixing more vigorously than necessary.
"And Reece?" her mother asked. Casual—too casual. "He's still there with you?"
"He's chief of security," Maggie said. "Runs the tactical teams. Coordinates with Guardian's main operations. Makes sure the platform stays secure and the people working there stay safe."
"So, you're working together," her mother observed.
"Every day."
"That must be nice," Faith said. Something in her tone made Maggie look up. Faith was smiling. The kind of smile that said she understood things Maggie hadn't quite put into words yet.
Rachel laughed quietly. "Subtle, Mom."
"I'm just saying it's nice when two people can work together and support each other," Faith said, returning to her vegetables with deliberate innocence.
Maggie's mother smiled. "It is nice. Maggie seems happier than I've seen her in years."
The truth of that settled in Maggie's chest. "I am happy. DSI is everything I wanted my work to be. Purpose-driven. Ethical. Making a real difference. And having Reece there …" She trailed off, not quite sure how to finish that sentence without revealing too much.
"Makes it better," Faith finished for her.
Maggie met Faith's eyes and saw understanding there and acceptance. "Yeah. It really does."
Her mother and Faith exchanged a look. That wordless communication mothers seemed to have. Maggie pretended not to notice and added more celery to the potato salad.
"Anyway, Guardian is a wonderful organization to work for," Faith said. "Jason and those before him built it on principles that actually matter. Protection over profit. People over power. It's not just corporate talk. It's how the company operates."
"I can see that," Maggie's mother said as she moved to the oven and pulled it open, filling the kitchen with the smell of perfectly baked biscuits. "The way you all came together to help Maggie. To shut down what Darkwater had become. That takes resources and commitment."
"It's what we do," Faith said, her tone simple. "When someone does the right thing and gets targeted for it, Guardian steps in. That's the mandate."
"And now, Maggie's part of that," Rachel added. She was grinning. "Running DSI and making sure it operates the way it should. That's pretty incredible."
Maggie smiled despite the embarrassment warming her face. "I'm still figuring it out. But it feels right."
"That's what matters," her mother said.
Outside, the men's laughter suddenly grew louder. Clearly, someone had said something that sent the whole group into hoots and backslapping.
"What are they even talking about out there?" Rachel wondered aloud.
"Sports, probably," Faith said. "Or vehicles. Or work. The usual."
Maggie's mother nodded in agreement, chuckling, as she plated the biscuits with practiced efficiency.
"Your brothers are sweet, Maggie. Tyler's been telling me about his new job at the co-op. Mason's excited about his promotion at the plant. And Caleb's graduating next year," Faith said as she helped load trays.
"They're good guys," Maggie agreed. "A little annoying sometimes, but good."
"That's brothers for you," Rachel said. "Trust me, I have three of them, too. I know annoying."
Faith laughed, the sound was warm and genuine.
They worked in a comfortable rhythm. Maggie finished the potato salad, her mother arranged biscuits on a serving platter, and Faith completed a salad so massive it required a mixing bowl. Rachel finished with the strawberries and grabbed the whipped cream from the fridge.
"I think we're ready," Maggie's mother announced. "Let's get this food outside before the men start complaining."
They loaded up. Trays and bowls and platters balanced carefully. Maggie grabbed the potato salad bowl, testing its weight. Heavy but manageable.
She followed her mother toward the back door, Rachel and Faith behind her.
Through the screen, she could see Reece more clearly now. He was listening to something Caleb was saying, nodding occasionally, that small smile on his face that meant he was genuinely interested. He looked relaxed and happy. More at ease than she'd seen him in months.
Her chest tightened with something warm and perfect all at once.
"All right, boys," her mother called as they pushed through the screen door. "Food's coming. Make room."
* * *
Reece stood near the grill with a beer in his hand that had gone warm half an hour ago. He wasn't drinking it anymore, just holding it while Tyler Brooks explained grain futures with the kind of enthusiasm usually reserved for sports or military operations.
"See, the thing about corn prices is timing," Tyler was saying. He gestured with his beer bottle, nearly sloshing it. "You hold too long, you lose money. You sell too early, same problem. It's all about reading the market."
"Sounds like tactical planning," Royce said from Reece's left. His younger brother, who was a crime scene investigator with Guardian now, had sharp eyes that caught details most people missed. "Except instead of bad guys, you're fighting weather and commodities traders."
"Kind of is," Tyler agreed. "Except the bad guys are probably more predictable."
Mason, Maggie's middle brother, laughed. Solid guy. Practical. Shift supervisor at the meat processing plant. "I'll take commodities traders over people shooting at me any day."
"Bad guys are more predictable," Rogan said. Reece's youngest brother. He was a lawyer and too smart for his own good sometimes. "At least with criminals, you know they're going to do the wrong thing. Commodities traders? Who knows?"
Reece listened with half his attention. The other half was on his father and Richard Brooks standing together near the patio table. Both holding sodas and talking quietly. His dad's cane leaned against the table beside him.
He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could read his father's posture. Relaxed. Approving. That meant Richard Brooks had passed whatever assessment his dad had been running.
And that was good.
Caleb, the youngest Brooks, was talking to anyone who would listen about agricultural engineering programs and graduation plans.
The kid had energy. Reminded Reece a little of himself at that age before his time with Guardian.
Before he'd learned that not everything could be solved with enthusiasm and determination.
The ring in his pocket felt heavy.
He'd been carrying it for two weeks. Waiting for the right moment. The right time. There probably wasn't a perfect moment. But this was close enough.
A family gathering on a mild summer day with both families together. Maggie was happy and smiling.
Yeah, this was it.