Page 67 of All Along The Watchtower

Eventually, the nurse came back. Her gentle touch on my arm pulled me from my daze. “I’m sorry, but visiting hours are over. You can come back first thing in the morning.”

I stared at her, uncomprehending. Leave? How could I leave him here alone?

“Come on.” Ford’s voice was soft near my ear. His hand remained steady at my waist as he guided me into the hallway.

The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead. My legs felt like rubber. The weight of decisions I needed to make pressed down on my shoulders. I had to call Monty about covering the Brewhouse. Had to figure out where to stay tonight. Had to?—

My breath hitched. The walls of the corridor started closing in.

Ford’s arms came around me, solid and real. His chin rested on top of my head as I pressed my face into his chest. The salt and sandalwood scent of him wrapped around me like a security blanket.

God, I’d forgotten how safe he could make me feel. How he’d always been able to ground me when everything else spun out of control.

But that was the problem, wasn’t it? I’d let myself believe in that safety once before. Let myself need him. And then he’d left.

My fingers curled into his shirt, anyway. Just for right now, I told myself. Just until I could think straight again. Just until I could stand on my own.

His heart beat steadily under my ear, and I wondered if he could feel mine trying to break free of my chest. If he knew how terrified I was—not just of losing Pop, but of falling back into old patterns. Of trusting. Of needing.

I’d always prided myself on being strong, on never needing anyone. But maybe real strength was knowing when to let someone help carry the load. Even if just for a night.

We stood there in that sterile hallway, neither of us speaking. Neither of us moving. His thumb traced circles on my back, and I fought the urge to melt further into his embrace.

Digging for some reserve of strength I didn’t know I had, I eased back far enough to look into his face. “Thank you for coming with me. For getting me here. But you should get home to Peyton.”

“Peyton is covered. Mom and Mimi have her. Right now, my only priority is you.”

My only priority is you.The words echoed through my head, seeming to gather heft and weight with each repetition.

God, how many times had I dreamed of hearing that? How many nights had I lain awake wishing he’d chosen me over the Navy? Over his brothers? Over anything?

But this wasn’t that. This was Ford being Ford. The good guy who always showed up when people needed him. Who always tried to do the right thing.

Except for that one time. That one devastating time when he believed doing the right thing had meant leaving.

I needed to remember that. Needed to hold on to that truth to keep from reading more into this moment than was really there. He had Peyton now. A daughter who needed him. Who deserved to be his priority.

This was just one night. One emergency. Tomorrow, everything would go back to normal, and I’d be handling things on my own again. The way I always had.

But right now… right now, he was here. His arms were around me, and I was too wrung out to pretend I didn’t need it.

CHAPTER 31

PEYTON

I tapped my pencil against the page, staring at the algebra problem that might as well have been written in hieroglyphics. The numbers blurred together as my mind drifted back to Mr. Ed collapsing in the Brewhouse. The way his face had gone gray. How Bree’s voice cracked when she shouted for someone to call 911.

Keeley whined at my feet, sensing my distress. I reached down to scratch behind her ears.

“I know, girl. I’m worried too.”

The lighthouse keeper’s cottage felt both cozy and strange. My grandmothers had made me feel welcome, but everything was still so new. Mimi had baked cookies earlier, trying to distract me, while Grandma Flo kept checking her phone for updates.

Mimi appeared in the doorway of my room with a mug of hot chocolate. “You don’t have to finish that tonight if you can’t focus.”

I was pretty sure Mrs. Winslow wouldn’t agree, but I still closed my textbook. “Thanks. Have they called?”

“Not since this morning.” She set the mug down and perched on the edge of my bed.

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