Page 122 of What Remains

"Then diagnose yourself better."

Despite everything, a small, shaky, real laugh escaped her. "You are unbelievably bossy."

"I've been told."

"I'm guessing you hear that a lot."

"Usually with more profanity."

That earned him another faint smile. Seth stepped closer, his fingers brushing gently beneath the cut at her temple. Josie flinched, and his hand immediately stilled.

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

His thumb hovered near her cheek, over the bruising blooming beneath her skin. A cold, metallic anger coiled in his gut—the kind that came with failure. If he'd waited another hour⁠—

He severed the thought before it could take root. "Come on."

He moved on, and Josie stayed close enough that their shoulders occasionally brushed. After another hundred yards, she broke the silence.

"You came back."

Seth kept his eyes ahead. "Yeah."

"Why?"

He gave her a sideways look. "You really asking?"

"Yes."

He exhaled slowly. He'd had nearly an entire day alone in Beast to figure out what he wanted to say when he saw her again, had imagined this conversation at least twenty different ways. None of those versions included her bloodied, bruised, and walking home after nearly being murdered.

"I made it a couple hours."

A corner of her mouth lifted. "Stubborn."

"Shut up."

She smiled, and Seth shook his head.

"I kept telling myself leaving made sense." He stepped over a fallen branch and reached back automatically. Josie took his hand, let him help her over, and neither of them let go afterward. "Jay and Cara needed to get home. Sawyer and Addy are waiting on them. We had supplies people need. We had a plan."

"And you're a plan person."

"I'm definitely a plan person." Seth looked down at their joined hands, at her fingers wrapped in his. "You happened."

The smile left Josie's lips, her gaze suddenly uncertain.

He swallowed. "And Layla."

Something softened in her eyes at her daughter's name, and Seth forced his gaze forward again, because looking at her made the next words harder.

"I kept seeing that kid standing on the porch asking if I'd come visit." He stopped, jaw working for a moment. "Kept hearing you say goodbye. I drove for hours trying to convince myself it would only be temporary—that maybe we'd find each other again. Spring. Summer. Whenever." He gave a humorless laugh. "Like any of us get to make plans six months out anymore."

Josie's fingers tightened around his. Seth kept walking, his eyes fixed on the path ahead as he spoke.

"I lost Molly and AJ in one day." The names were still raw. Probably always would be. "I woke up one morning with a wife and a son, and by the end of it, they were gone."