Page 220 of At First Catch

Walter watches me for a long moment before finally asking, “What happened?”

I laugh once under my breath. “That’s a really long answer.”

“You got nowhere to be.”

My phone buzzes again.

Holt.

For a second I consider ignoring it.

Instead, I open the message.

Holt

You eat yet?

I stare at the screen.

Type.

Delete it.

Finally settle on:

Me

Working on it.

Three dots appear.

Holt

Mom says that’s not an answer.

Despite everything, I laugh.

Walter notices. “Good.”

I look up. “What?”

“Nice hearing that sound again.”

The irony almost kills me.

I scrub both hands down my face, trying to steady myself against the pressure crushing my chest.

“She said love shouldn’t feel lonely.”

Walter stays silent. Listening.

The memory physically hurts.

“I kept trying to protect everything,” I whisper. “The marina. Her. The future.” Emotion roughens my voice sharply. “And I made her feel shut out instead.”

The truth leaves the office painfully still afterward. Now that the relationship is gone, I can finally see everything clearly. Every withheld fear. Every late night. Every decision made from panic instead of trust.

Walter leans back in his chair. “You ever call the lender Dean told you about?”