Still scared.
Still trying to figure out why someone came for her.
I reached over and tapped the side of her hand with my finger.“You’re safe.”
She nodded once, and her eyes flicked up to mine.“I know.It’s just… mornings feel different.Everything feels too quiet.”
Yeah.I felt that too.
Before I could answer, the front door opened, and Pearl stepped inside with Anchor right behind her.
Even from across the room, I could see how exhausted they both were.Pearl’s hair was knotted in a messy ponytail, and she wore one of Anchor’s sweatshirts that draped halfway down her thighs.Anchor looked like he’d slept for maybe ten minutes leaning against a wall, and his jaw hadn’t unclenched since Bernice died.
Pearl tried to smile when she saw Shay, but behind it was heartbreak.Raw, unfiltered, and heavy enough to drop her to her knees if she let it.
Anchor stayed close to her shoulder with his hand hovering near her back like he wanted to touch her but didn’t want to crowd her.
“Morning,” Pearl said and slid onto the barstool next to Shay.
Shay squeezed her hand.“How are you?”
Pearl exhaled hard through her nose.“Depends on the minute.”
I respected the honesty.
I respected how she didn’t force herself to pretend she was okay.
Pearl stared at the bar top for a long moment, gathering something inside herself, and then she finally said it.“I’m ready.”
Shay blinked.“Ready for what?”
Pearl’s throat bobbed.“To go through Bernice’s cabin.”
Shay’s spine straightened.“Today?”
Pearl nodded.“Yeah.I know it’s going to be hard,” she said quietly, eyes flicking between Shay and me.“But I… I want to feel close to her.And going through her things… it feels like a way to do that.Like maybe she’ll feel less gone if I’m holding something she held.”
Shay’s hand moved over Pearl’s and squeezed gently.“We can do that.”
Pearl swallowed, and her eyes shone with unshed tears.“Thanks.”
I looked at Anchor, silently asking if this was too soon.
It had only been a few days.
She hadn’t even had time to start grieving properly.Most of us hadn’t.
Anchor shrugged lightly.“You think I can talk her out of doing something she wants to do?”
Pearl glared at him like he’d said something stupid.
Anchor smirked.“Didn’t think so.If you stay with the girls, with Lost, then Push and I can finish the last of the surveillance on the island.We open in three days.”
I winced inside.
Three days.
Three days until Skull Island opened its doors again.
