Page 206 of At First Catch

Walter gestures vaguely toward me.

“That thing you do when you decide protecting people matters more than telling them the truth.”

Christ. Hadley said almost the exact same thing.

Walter leans one hand against the office doorframe.

“You know what’s gonna happen if she finds out you’re seriously considering this from somebody else?”

Fear flashes through my chest. Sharp and immediate.

The guilt twists harder.

“I’m still thinking,” I mutter weakly.

Walter looks profoundly unimpressed.

“No, son.” His voice lowers. “You’re spiraling.”

I’ve become so terrified of losing everything that I’m starting to make decisions from panic instead of clarity.

My phone buzzes against the desk, and warmth spreads through my chest anyway.

Hadley

Lunch later? I’m tired of staring at permits.

A helpless laugh escapes me before I can stop it.

I love her so much it physically hurts.

Walter notices my inner turmoil.

“There he is,” he mutters.

I glance up. “What?”

“The idiot who actually knows what matters.”

Unfortunately, I’m not sure that’s true anymore.

By Wednesday afternoon, exhaustion weighs so heavily beneath my skin that even walking into the bookstore feels harder than it should.

Rain clouds gather low over Back Bay outside the lighthouse windows while humid coastal air presses through the open doors.

Storm weather again.

The marina’s been tense all week because of it.

I step inside A Page in Time during the lunch hour, carrying rain-damp tension, as if it physically weighs something. Then my eyes find Hadley.

She stands behind the café counter, unpacking books beside Bailey while the late afternoon light warms the rich brown of her hair.

“Hey,” I say.

Her face lights up with a subtle warmth.

Even scared, she still looks relieved to see me. “Hey.”