Page 79 of Her Remarkable Protector

“Yeah,” I say, letting my words settle. “We’re safe now.” The ‘now’ feels like a fragile thread I’m clinging to. I know better than to believe it’ll hold forever, but I have to make the most of it while it lasts.

He looks at me, hesitating. “So… I can come with you?”

I nod. “That’s what I’m here to talk about.”

His smile is cautious, but there’s a spark of determination. “Of course I’m coming with you. Don’t be silly.”

“We’re going far, Oak. Far from here.”

The spark dims. “What? But… what about my friends?”

That word—’friends’—hits me harder than it should. It’s the first time he’s ever said it. Back when he was part of the Stone household, he had a group he called his ‘crew.’ He left them behind without hesitation to spend time with me. But now? I can tell that word, ‘friends,’ carries so much weight for him. And now, he’s facing a decision no thirteen-year-old should ever have to make.

I take a breath, meeting his eyes. “I promised you, Oak. I’ll keep my word. But I also know how much things have changed for you. If you want to stay, I’ll understand. It’s your choice.”

He looks down for a moment, his voice quieter when he speaks. “Honor… I love it here.”

“I know,” I say gently.

“But there’s nothing I want more than to be with you. That’s why I followed you to Wild Horse Island in the first place. You remember, right?”

I nod. “I do. That’s why I’m here.”

Oakley steps closer, his eyes darting to Laramie, and then back to me. “I’m coming with you,” he says with conviction.

Mark Connor appears then, his face etched with concern. I already know he’s going to try to talk me out of this, and ignoring him isn’t going to be easy.

“Why don’t you pack up?” I say to Oakley, before turning to Mark.

“Chase told me about you—how determined you can be,” Mark says, his voice calm but laced with quiet certainty. “So while I’m going to tell you this is a bad idea—and it is—I know I probably won’t stop you. Just… don’t forget that you’ve always got a home here. No matter what.”

The lump in my throat making words difficult. “Thanks for everything, Mark.”

I turn and walk away before he can sway me any further, because goddamn Mark Connor—he almost did. Almost.

As Oakley and I walk to the car, he asks, “Are we going to move around again?”

“No. This time I’ve got a plan. Solid plan.”

“I’ll still get to see Ethan and Noah sometimes, right?”

I nod again. “Not every day, but I can make it happen.”

“See, you always know what to do.” His smile returns.

And that hurts.

29

CHASE

Embrace the suck.It was drilled into me back when I was a SEAL, a motto for enduring whatever hell was thrown my way. Back then, it was second nature—push forward, adapt, survive. As a civilian? Not so much.

Maybe because the suck doesn’t feel real. What Honor told me almost defies logic. How could she be that girl from Kalispell? Her parents murdered, and I—I was the one who made her hide beneath her mother’s body? Yet, somehow, it makes perfect sense.

The familiarity that struck me when I caught her face from a certain angle. The way I wondered if I’d met her before, or if she just reminded me of some actor I couldn’t quite name. They make sense now. I don’t need a certain angle anymore. I knew her. And shewasa fucking actor.

Montana is vast, yet it isn’t. Did I find her? Or did she find me?

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