Chapter 5 #3
Reid walked beside Holly on the street side again.
She noticed but didn’t call him on it this time.
The town was still half asleep, the courthouse dome in the distance pale against the gray sky, the pharmacy dark, the bakery lit from within as Linda and her staff started the first trays of rolls.
A delivery truck idled at the curb. Somewhere down the block, a dog barked twice.
Holly wrapped both hands around her travel mug. “Do you miss it?”
Reid glanced at her. “The couch?”
“The Navy.”
He was quiet long enough that she wondered if she’d asked too much.
She hadn’t meant to. Not exactly. The question had slipped out because the morning was softer than the night had been, and because he was here beside her in a town he’d left, walking her dog before the shop opened as if this were something they did.
“I miss parts of it,” he said. “The clarity. Knowing the role. Knowing what was expected of me.”
“Did you like being a JAG officer?”
“Most days.” She heard the smile in his voice. “I believed in the work. Still do. People need rules when everything else goes wrong. They need someone in the room who cares whether the process holds.”
“That sounds like Lincoln Fleming reincarnated in you.”
“I’ll never live up to him, but I like to think he rubbed off on me in the best way.”
Blue doubled back, leash sweeping around Reid’s legs. Reid stepped over it neatly and shortened the line before the dog could tie them both to a parking meter.
Holly watched him untangle the leash with patient hands. “Is Shadow Point like that? You have a clear role?”
He looked toward the courthouse. “Not always. SPS works in the gray more than I expected.”
“That bothers you?”
“Sometimes.” He handed the leash back when Blue returned to her side. “Sometimes it feels more honest.”
Reid had always carried himself like a man trying to be fair to everyone else before he admitted what he wanted. Maybe that had made him good at law. Maybe it had also made it easier for him to leave her.
“And being home?” she asked.
His steps slowed slightly, then evened out. “That part’s good.”
“Even with Roni meddling?”
“Roni came out of the womb meddling.”
“She did.”
“And Granddad needs more help than he wants to admit.” Reid’s gaze moved over the quiet street, the courthouse, the old storefronts, the mountains beyond town still wrapped in low cloud. “But yes. It’s good to be around them again. Good to be home.”
Home. The word fit him strangely and not strangely at all. Holly had spent years thinking of Reid as someone who belonged elsewhere because he’d chosen elsewhere over her. Hearing him say home while having spent the night on her couch made the old story less clean around the edges.
“I’m glad,” she said and meant it.
He angled his head toward her as if surprised. “Me, too,” he said.
They walked the rest of the block in quiet.
When they reached Sanctuary, Holly felt steadier than she had since the loyalty card had appeared.
Reid hadn’t fixed anything. Nell was still in the hospital.
The FBI still had more questions than answers.
Someone may have watched her customers from the street or sat under her lights and pretended to belong.
But Reid had stayed. He’d slept on her couch, made coffee without destroying her kitchen, and talked about the Navy and Shadow Point and home.
Before she could unlock the back entrance, Blue’s ears perked. A second later, a familiar voice called from the front. “Blue Bristol, your chariot has arrived.”
Holly closed her eyes briefly. “Roni.”
Reid lowered his voice. “Today’s daycare day?”
“Yes.” Holly glanced down at Blue, who’d begun vibrating with joy. “And apparently his social calendar remains the most stable thing in my life.”
They rounded the building to the front, where Roni stood under the awning, a leash looped over her wrist, and a pink rain jacket bright enough to wake the entire block. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head, and her eyes widened dramatically when she spotted Reid.
Her gaze immediately shifted to Holly, then down to Blue, who lunged toward her with shameless affection.
A smile spread over her face. “Well,” Roni said, drawing the word out as Blue wriggled against her legs. “I knew I was picking up my favorite nephew this morning. I didn’t realize the two of you were…together.”
Holly unlocked the front door. “We’re not together, Roni. Reid is my new employee. He’s learning the morning routine.”
“What?” Roni said, her mouth nearly falling open.
Reid reached for Blue’s leash when Holly handed it over, then passed it to his sister. “I’m helping Holly for a while.”
Roni’s eyes narrowed. “Temporary coffee employment. Very normal career move for a former Navy lawyer.”
“He can refill napkins,” Holly said with a casual shrug while her heart slammed against her ribs. She wasn’t lying, she told herself. She just wasn’t giving her best friend the full truth.
“That does sound like his highest calling,” Roni said, full of sarcasm.
Blue shoved his nose into Roni’s coat pocket, found the treat she’d undoubtedly brought, and sat with heroic obedience.
Roni pointed at him. “See? This is why I adore you. You appreciate me.”
“He appreciates snacks,” Reid said.
“Same thing.” Roni gave Blue the treat, then looked between them again. “Are you two okay? Is there something going on I should know about?”
The questions were gentle enough to be dangerous.
Holly pushed the door open and let the warmth of Sanctuary spill around her ankles. “Everything’s fine.”
She hadn’t planned to say that.
Reid didn’t look at her, but she felt the stillness in him beside her. Roni’s expression softened, and for once, she didn’t pounce on the opening.
“Hmm,” Roni said, clearly not buying it. “Fine then. I’ll take the menace to daycare, and you two can do whatever mysterious early-morning napkin emergency requires both of you.”
“Thank you,” Holly said, slightly relieved but sure that Roni would bring down a full inquisition on her soon.
Roni clipped her leash to Blue’s collar and bent to kiss the top of his head. “Come on, handsome. Let’s go teach the puppies emotional discipline.”
Blue trotted off with her, tail high, without so much as a backward glance.
“Traitor,” Holly called after him.
Roni laughed and waved over her shoulder.
Holly stood in the doorway with Reid at her side, watching her best friend and her dog disappear down the sidewalk toward Roni’s SUV.
The morning had fully arrived, gray and cool and waiting.
In a few minutes, she would turn on the lights, start the espresso machine, and open Sanctuary to the people who trusted it.
Reid reached past her to hold the door as she stepped inside. He didn’t say anything about what she’d told Roni. He followed her in, steady and quiet, and Holly found that she was grateful for the silence.
For now, it was enough that he was still here.