Page 80 of Shattered Melodies

But for now, he was safe. Warm and clean and whole, with Peanut curled up on his chest and the soft glow of the lamp casting a golden halo around his head.

It was enough. It had to be enough.

Then a sudden light from outside caught my eye.

Frowning, I made my way to the window, peering out into the darkness. A car had pulled up in the driveway, its headlights cutting through the night like twin beacons.

For a moment, I tensed, my mind immediately jumping to worst-case scenarios. But then the driver’s side door opened, and a familiar figure stepped out.

Jake.

I glanced back at Liam, making sure he was still sleeping peacefully. Then, with a sigh, I made my way to the front door and stepped out onto the porch.

“Hey,” I called out, my voice low and rough with exhaustion. “Thanks for coming by.”

Jake looked up, his eyes finding mine in the darkness. “Of course,” he said, his voice just as tired as my own. “I wanted to make sure he was okay. That you both were.”

“It could have been worse,” I said finally, my voice rough with unspoken gratitude. “If you hadn’t been there, hadn’t stepped in when you did…”

I trailed off, unable to finish the thought. Unable to imagine the alternative, the world where Liam was hurt or worse, where I had lost him before I ever had a chance to make things right.

“How’s he holding up?” Jake asked, his voice soft with concern.

I shrugged, suddenly feeling the weight of the night pressing down on me like a physical thing. “I don’t know,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. “He’s asleep inside, but…”

But what? But he was broken, but he was lost, but he was so far from okay that it made my heart ache just to think about it?

I couldn’t say any of that. Couldn’t put the truth of Liam’s pain into words, couldn’t bear to see the pity and the sorrow in Jake’s eyes.

So I just shook my head, my jaw clenching with the effort of keeping my emotions in check. “What happened tonight, Jake? What the hell was he doing in that alley, taking on three guys twice his size?”

Jake sighed, running a hand through his hair. “The bartender called me,” he explained, his voice heavy with exhaustion. “Said there was a fight brewing, that it looked like it might get ugly. I was on patrol anyway, so I swung by to check it out.”

He paused, his eyes distant as he remembered. “When I got there, I saw that the men had provoked Liam. They were saying…horrible things, Caleb. Things that no one should ever have to hear, especially not from a bunch of drunk, bigoted assholes.”

I felt my hands clench into fists at my sides, my blood boiling with a sudden, fierce rage. “Do you know who they were?” I asked, my voice low and dangerous.

Jake nodded, his expression grim. “It was the Marley boys. You know, the ones who are always causing trouble around town, picking fights and running their mouths.”

I did know. Knew them all too well, from the countless times they had harassed people. They were bullies, plain and simple. Cowards who got off on making other people feel small and weak and afraid.

It made me sick. Made me want to march down to the sheriff’s station and give them a taste of their own medicine, to make them feel even a fraction of the fear and the humiliation that they had inflicted on so many others.

But I knew I couldn’t do that. Knew that violence, as satisfying as it might feel in the moment, would only make things worse in the long run.

So I just stood there, my jaw clenched and my heart pounding, trying to breathe through the anger and the frustration and the overwhelming sense of helplessness.

There was a long, heavy silence between us, the weight of the past and the present and all the things we couldn’t change pressing down like a physical thing.

And then, finally, Jake spoke. His voice was soft, almost hesitant, like he wasn’t sure he had the right to say what he was about to say.

“He’s not the Liam we knew all those years ago,” he murmured, his eyes distant and sad. “I suppose I had a lot to do with that.”

I felt my breath catch in my throat, my heart clenching with a sudden, sharp ache. Because he was right. Of course he was right.

Jake was right, Liam wasn’t the same man he had been back then. The bright-eyed, quick-witted boy who had captured my heart and never let go. He was harder now, more guarded. Scarred by the years and the distance and all the pain that life had thrown his way.

I sighed, running a hand over my face. “I don’t think he will forgive you anytime soon, Jake,” I said softly, my voice heavy with regret. “The last memory he had of you was you outing us at prom, and that led to the accident.”

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