“The Army sounding like a better idea yet?” I growl.

He nods, and I jerk my chin, telling him to beat it.

He casts one more look at his friend and then bolts, his footsteps disappearing down the stairs.

Terrance grunts, his face twisted in pain as he tries to rise, and I see his sweatshirt soaked with blood.

I shoot out my foot, kicking him to the ground. He lands on the end of the arrow sticking out of his back and howls as I point my last one at him.

I need to call the cops, but I’m not taking my weapon off him yet.

“Fuck,” he cries, gritting his teeth.

He rolls onto his hands and knees and then climbs to his feet. I scramble back, about to shoot him again, but he stumbles out of the room and leans into the wall, descending the staircase. I don’t fucking care if he gets away, as long as he leaves.

I follow him, watching as he hits the floor again, crawling for the staircase. His hands give out underneath him, and he falls, sliding down the stairs and screaming at the arrow in his shoulder.

“Tiernan!” Noah calls from the living room. “Tiernan, answer me now!”

“Here!” I call.

Holcomb spills down the rest of the stairs, and I hold the bow and arrow, seeing Kaleb rush for me, taking my face in his hands.

Noah takes the weapon from me, and I hear the front door swing open again.

“Jesus Christ,” Jake snaps, taking in the scene.

“Stay down,” Noah orders Holcomb, planting his boot on his back and pushing him to the floor. “Or I’ll show you how we handle an injury like that up here without an ambulance.”

Kaleb stares into my eyes, breathing a mile a minute before jerking me in and pressing his lips hard to my forehead.

“Are you okay?” Jake asks, rushing up to us.

I nod, my heart still hammering. “I’m fine.”

I think. I don’t know, everything hurts, but I can’t tell what exactly.

I pull away, looking at Jake glance between Holcomb and me. “Tiernan, I’m sorry,” he says. “You’re okay? Really?”

“Fine.”

“I didn’t think.” His hand goes to his head. “We shouldn’t have left you alone.”

“You heard the call?” I ask.

“Yeah.” He smiles weakly. “We sped here the whole way.”

I knew they’d come.

“You’re sure you’re fine? He didn’t…try anything?”

“He tried a lot.” I don’t know if I want to laugh at how miserably he failed or cry at how relieved I am. “I’m perfectly fine, though.”

Holcomb groans on the floor, and Jake shoots him a scowl, taking out his phone as he walks away. “I’m calling Benson.”

The sheriff. And since they visited him once tonight, and Kaleb is still here, then I guess no one’s pressing charges like Terrance threatened.

“Hey, you didn’t miss, at least?” Noah tries to joke.

I feign a laugh. “It was at close-range.”

He smiles. Then he presses his foot down harder, grinding his boot into Holcomb’s back. “Motherfucker,” he taunts. “You just made my day.”

Yeah. Kaleb might be in the clear, but Holcomb just took his place with the sheriff.

I look up at Kaleb.

But he’s not looking at me anymore.

He stands a few feet away, looking over at my suitcase by the door. His eyes turn to me, suddenly hard.

I swallow through the tightness in my throat.

“Were there others?” Jake asks as he comes back in the room.

It takes a moment to tear my eyes away from Kaleb.

Finally, I nod. “There were. They scattered. I didn’t recognize them. I can describe one of them, though.”

Kaleb walks outside with his father to check the property, and I sit down on the stairs with Noah, resting my head in my hands for minutes and minutes to try to calm down.

After a while, the sheriff arrives, the ambulance not far behind, and they load up Holcomb on the stretcher while Benson takes my statement. I tell them about the fire last winter and Holcomb’s confession when he didn’t know I was listening, and he tells us they passed his car on the road on the way up here. They guess he parked off somewhere quiet, so he could come onto the property undetected.

Kaleb and Jake come back in, Kaleb staring at me the whole time from across the room like he’s scared and sorry, but his distance is scarier. Why won’t he come over to me?

He’s so far away all of a sudden. Every once in a while, his eyes go to my suitcase.

The cops and ambulance finally leave, and Noah heads outside to secure the stable and check the animals, while Jake stands on the porch, finishing up with Benson.

I walk into the kitchen, seeing Kaleb sitting in the dark at the table. His elbows rest on his knees as he leans forward, bows his head, and locks his hands together.

He raises his eyes, looking at me.

Reality comes crashing back in.

I don’t know what I expected, I guess. Obviously, I didn’t ask for Holcomb to show up here, but maybe when Kaleb rushed in, took my face in his hands, and saw what could’ve happened, he’d realize that he wanted a life with me.

That he wanted to live instead of hiding inside himself.

Instead, he saw my suitcase and shut down, because he thinks I’m like his mother, and that I’m abandoning him. He’s being betrayed, but what he doesn’t realize is it’s not abandonment when you’re an adult. It’s called leaving, and he has it in his power to stop me.

Tonight could’ve gone so much worse. Doesn’t he realize that?

“The baby isn’t his,” Noah whispers behind me. “Dad was able to squeeze the doctor for info. Cici got pregnant last August. Kaleb was at the fishing cabin the entire month. He didn’t show up until the beginning of September.”

That first night we met.

“Holcomb?” I guess.

“That’s what we’re thinking, too.”

Holcomb is the father. He and Cici were together at the bar on my birthday. She was fucking with us today.

I stare at Kaleb, a horrible feeling falling over me instead of relief, though. He’s not going to fight for me. He won’t write to me. He won’t sign.

He’ll never talk to me.

He’ll never communicate with his children if he has any.

He loves everyone in this house, but he won’t even tell us.

Something crushes my chest, and tears pool as I gaze at him.

“Tiernan!” a woman yells outside. “Oh, my God!”

I blink.

“Is Tiernan here?” I hear Mirai’s voice as she pummels up the steps on the porch.

Jake says something I can’t hear and then she shouts, “Get out of my way!”

Mirai?

Tears stream down my face, and I spin around, seeing her run into the house, lock eyes with me, and drop her handbag, rushing over.

She wraps her arms around me, and I pause a moment and then… I crush her to me, holding her so tightly she probably can’t breathe.

I hold back the sobs, but I can’t hide the tears. I didn’t realize I’d missed her until now. I squeeze her so hard, everything hitting me at once.

“What the hell happened?” she asks.

I release her, drying my eyes. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”