Page 111 of What Hurts Us

Cal scrubbed his palm down his mouth. “I was just doing my job, ma’am.”

Grace shook her head, though it was more of an idle tilt. “For you, maybe. But for me, it was everything.”

We stayed for a few more minutes and offered well wishes before slipping out so Grace could rest. It wasn’t just the physical injuries that plagued her—it was the mental exhaustion.

I felt it in my bones, too.

Callum kept his hand on my back as we crossed the parking lot. “Ready to head back?”

I nodded. “How do you feel?” It had been a strange thing to watch him sit at Grace’s bedside and process the gravity of what the three of us had been through. Grace nearly lost her life. I nearly lost mine trying to save hers. And Cal? He took a life.

“I, uh…” He paused as we passed a couple heading inside. “I dunno. I was hoping that seeing her alive would make me feel like… Like killing that man was worth it.”

“But?”

He stroked the beginnings of the beard on his face. “I’d do it again because it’s my job, but it doesn’t make the thought of going back to work any easier. And every time I think about you going back in the field, I feel sick to my stomach.” Callum stopped dead in his tracks. “I don’t like feeling this weak.”

I slid my hands up and down the sleeves of his jacket, warming his biceps. “Tell me what will make you feel strong. Tell me what will put you back in control.”

He was quiet as we loaded up in the car. After a moment of letting the engine warm, he spoke up. “The truth.”

I tilted my head curiously.

“You know what they say. The truth will set you free.”

* * *

Foggy windows diffusedthe glow inside Gran’s house. The chimney billowed thick clouds of smoke into the gray sky. Though the weather looked like snow was imminent, it probably wouldn’t happen until January.

I hugged the box of pecan sticky-buns we picked up from the Falls Creek Filling Station as Cal led me up the walkway.

Gran, seated in her recliner with her feet up, begrudgingly looked away from her novel. “Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to pay little ol’ me with a visit. The most infamous couple in the whole county.”

Callum cracked a wry smile. “Hey, Gran.”

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

Gran rolled her eyes. “I’d feel better if I didn’t have to hold the Ladies Auxiliary meetings here and have them treat me like a fucking invalid.”

“You’re not an invalid,” I chided as I tempted her into a good mood by setting the sticky buns on her end table. “But I did check in with your physical therapist, and it looks like you’re right on track.”

She snagged a sticky bun and inhaled it in one bite. “Oh, stop stalling. You didn’t come out this way to bring me carbs and tell me I got a gold star for surviving Guantanamo for the elderly.”

Cal snickered. “We were just dropping by to see how you were.”

Gran’s eyes flicked down to my hand. She pursed her lips, silver brows drawing in. “Don’t tell me—”

I wrung my hands, trying my best to quell my nerves.

Callum slid his arm around me. “Don’t worry. We’re good.”

Gran huffed. “Can’t be good if there’s no ring on her finger.”

“It’s at the jeweler’s,” I provided, looking at Cal. “It’s…”

“Getting properly sized so that I canactuallypropose to Layla,” Callum said.

Gran’s soft features went hard as stone. “Callum Anthony, you’d better not be saying what I think you’re saying.”

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