She shrugs. “Last night. This morning. A little of both.”
I stare at her, awe creeping in. “Do you sleep?”
“Occasionally,” she says. “Usually when you’re not spiraling.”
I laugh, the sound shaky but real.
I step forward and hug her, tight and sudden. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
She hugs me back. “You don’t have to.”
We pull apart, and she slings her bag over her shoulder.
“Oh,” she adds casually. “And I also figured out how to get Bishop out of his contract.”
I blink. “You didwhat?”
She grins. “We’ll talk later.”
I shake my head, overwhelmed, grateful, and—finally—steady.
The threat isn’t gone. I know that. Somewhere out there, a development company is still circling.
But for now?
I’m not alone.
And that’s enough to let me breathe.
Chapter 33
Nathan
I shove the glass door open just as the lights inside flicker lower.
The receptionist looks up, already halfway out of her chair. “I’m sorry, Nathan—we’re closed.”
“I know,” I say too fast. My chest is still tight. “I just— I need to see her. Please. Just five minutes.”
She hesitates, sympathetic but firm. “She’s finished for the day. I really can’t?—”
“I wouldn’t be here if it could wait,” I cut in, then catch myself. Lower my voice. “Please.”
She glances toward Dr. Pembrooke’s door, then back at me. “I’m really sorry.”
Before I can say anything else, the door opens.
“It’s okay,” Dr. Pembrooke says gently. “Nathan, come on in.”
Relief hits me harder than it should. I follow her down the short hall, my thoughts still tangled in the last twelve hours. Taylor Pierce’s lead. The message that said this might be something.
The smallest flicker of hope I’ve let myself feel in months.
And then—nothing.
A dead end. Another one.
And now I’m here because I don’t trust myself alone with the weight of that disappointment.
