Page 110 of Ransom

"Language," Bree scolds, but she's grinning.

"We had to make sure you were okay." Colton spreads his hands. "You disappeared."

"I texted Nick."

"Hey! You were really fucking cryptic," Nick snorts. "It didn't go over well."

Macy approaches cautiously. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please." I smile up at her. "For everyone. And maybe some menus?"

She nods and hurries away, muttering. I think I catch 'big' and 'woah.'

"So, spill." Cara leans forward. "What's going on with you and Blair?"

"Nothing yet. We're talking. Getting to know each other again."

"After twenty-five years," John rumbles. "Long time."

"Yeah. It is." I accept a mug of coffee from Macy. "Look, I appreciate you all coming here. But I need time to navigate this with her. Blair and I have history, complicated history, and all of you showing up at once isn't helping."

"We could help,"Micah signs."We could talk to her."

"I know you could. But this needs to be just us for now. She seems like she's willing to give me a chance. To see if what we had when we were kids was real, but we need time alone for that."

"Is it real?" Maya asks, resting her chin in her hands.

I think about Blair's laugh, about how she still bites her lip when she's thinking, about the spark that still lights between us. "Yeah, it is. I don't have a single doubt. But she does. And I want to give her all the time she needs."

Everyone at the table exchanges meaningful looks. The weight of my words settles over them.

"It's actually really pretty here." Bree breaks the silence, glancing out the window. "It’s a lot like home, isn’t it, Cara?"

"Smaller than our town was," Cara says, stirring sugar into her coffee. "But yeah, it has that same feel. We had a square a lot like this one, with flower shops and a diner and a movie theatre."

"And the ice cream parlor." Bree sighs. "Best rocky road ever."

"This place has potential," Nick observes, scanning the square. "Needs some TLC, though."

"Some of these storefronts are empty." Holly leans forward, peering down the street. "That's always hard on a small town."

"Same thing happened to some of the smaller towns around ours," Cara nods. "Once the mill closed, people had to leavefor work. Then the stores start closing because there are no customers. Soon, everyone's gone."

"I loved growing up there." Bree's voice goes soft. "Everyone knew everyone. If you got in trouble, your Mama knew before you got home."

"That part sucked," Cara laughs.

"The community though." Bree shakes her head. "When Mom and Dad died, people brought food for weeks. Remember Mrs. Martinez? She cleaned our whole house."

"And Mr. Cooper mowed the lawn." Cara's eyes go distant. "You don't get that in the city."

"This place has that." I gesture toward the window, where people wave as they pass. "People paying for car repairs in produce or a side of beef. I'm sure it's still happening. Everyone takes care of each other here."

"That's sweet," Holly says.

"But they're struggling." Jonas's precise voice cuts through. "The demographics show significant population decline over the past decade. Median income is well below state average."

"Always with the statistics," Colton groans. "But yeah, you can see it. Empty stores, peeling paint. The place needs help."

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