Page 102 of Resilience

She couldn’t let it pass unremarked, however. “Yeah. That was going to be my point. I can make him see reason.”

Uncle Simon picked up the plate of asparagus. “It’s not a bad idea,” he said as he plucked some spears for his plate. “What’s the word from the mayor’s office? Do we know if the story is going down right?”

Dad took a long drink of his beer before he answered. “Yeah, looks good. But we won’t be fully in the clear until the autopsy comes back. There’s a rush on it, so it should be done in a few days.”

“Why are they doing an autopsy?” Athena asked.

“They always do in a case like this,” Sam answered. “For police reasons and insurance.”

Dad nodded. “Right. That’s why we had to be careful in the way we did it, so the evidence is consistent with an accident.”

“We can talk about this here?” Sam asked, looking suddenly worried.

But Athena’s father laughed fully. “Sam. Do you think I would allow my home to be anything but perfectly secure?”

“Sorry,” Sam replied. “Obviously you wouldn’t.”

“Like I said,” Dad went on, “we have to be careful where we talk and who we talk to, but this—the house, these people, it’s safe.”

Sitting at her family’s table, with Sam, her person above all others, and his parents, who’d half raised her as her parents had half raised him, Athena understood her father’s words to mean so much more than their protection from law snooping out their secrets.

These people had put themselves on the line for her without hesitation—in fact, they’d fought her about it. She’d tried to protect them, and instead they’d gathered her up and fought for her.

This was her safe place. This house, these people. Sam. She was safe here.

“Thank you,” she signed. “All of you. I love you. Thank you so much for having my back.”

For a moment, the table went still. Everyone around it looked at her, their expressions somber and steady. Then Mom took a deep breath and reached out to hook her hand over Athena’s forearm. Sam reached out to lay his hand over hers. Aunt Deb got up from her seat, came around behind Athena’s chair, and wrapped her arms around her. Uncle Simon and Dad sat in place and watched, but she could see in their eyes that they, too, were moved.

She was safe and loved. Right here.

She’d always known that, and yet today it felt new and fiercely deep.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

“So it’s goin’ good, then?” Duncan asked.

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