Ruby's POV
The fire crackled softly in the hearth.
Outside, the wind moaned through the trees, the last breath of the storm that had passed hours ago.
Inside the cabin, it was still.
I sat on the couch with my knees tucked to my chest, one hand curled beneath my belly, the other pressed to my ribs. Carter hadn’t spoken again since he said he’d stay. He hadn’t moved, either. Just leaned against the opposite wall, his arms crossed, eyes flickering between the floor and the fading fire.
Neither of us knew what to say next.
But I could feel it building. The pressure. The weight of everything I hadn’t said—m,everything I’d buried so deep it scraped bone.
And it was starting to splinter.
My throat was raw from holding it all back.
My body was raw from surviving it.
And I was tired.
S
