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Torin rolls his eyes before looking back at Maggie. "He's right, though. You're not carrying this by yourself anymore. If Lucy needs help, we'll help with Lucy. If paperwork shows up, Ashby's going to marry a printer and handle it. If things get ugly, Briggs will loom at people until they make better decisions."

"I have many skills," Briggs says.

"Looming is your strongest one."

A faint smile appears on Maggie's face before fading into a more serious expression.

The room grows still again, though it feels different now.

The promises Maggie's hearing ask a lot from the people making them. They cost time, effort, and commitment, which makes them harder to offer and even harder to keep.

I can see her trying to decide whether she believes us. Laurel keeps hold of her hand and says, "They mean it, Maggie. You really don't have to do this alone anymore."

I watch Maggie's expression change. Her shoulders loosen. She blinks hard, then presses a hand over her mouth as tears spill down her cheeks again.

This time it feels different.

For hours she's talked about fear, about Lucy, about all the ways things could go wrong if she leaves. Every path she's described has led back to danger, isolation, or another impossible choice. Now she's sitting in a room full of people offering alternatives.

Nobody asks her to carry the entire future by herself.

Rain streaks down the hotel windows while the conversation continues. One concern leads to another. Maggie raises practical questions. Laurel answers what she can. I make notes whenever legal issues come up. Briggs contributes solutions with the confidence of a man who assumes obstacles exist primarily to be removed. Torin fills gaps the rest of us miss, usually by asking the questions nobody else thinks to ask.

Eventually, Maggie grows quiet and sinks deeper into thought. The room gives her space. Laurel remains beside her, their fingers still intertwined.

After several minutes, Maggie looks at her sister. "Lucy's okay?"

Laurel's expression softens immediately. "She's okay."

"What happens if I come back?"

Nobody jumps in with easy answers.

The reality waiting for her is complicated. There will be paperwork, lawyers, hearings, plans, setbacks, and more than a few sleepless nights.

Laurel reaches her answer first. "We figure it out."

Maggie looks around the room.

At Laurel.

At all of us.

She's terrified. I can see that much. I can also see the determination underneath it.

"Okay." Maggie takes a breath. "I'll come home.

Laurel bursts into tears immediately.

Maggie follows a second later, laughing through her own tears as Laurel throws her arms around her.

Briggs looks toward the window with the intense concentration of a man refusing to admit he's emotional.

Torin isn't doing much better.

I glance down at the notebook open on the desk. Page after page is filled with timelines, locations, theories, and plans. For weeks I've been trying to solve the mystery of where Maggie Sterling went.

That question finally has an answer.