Page 30 of Huck Frasier (Seals on Fraiser Mountain #5)

Marley

Frasier’s Cabin – Two Days Later

H ome.

I never thought that word would feel like this.

The trees were exactly where we left them. The porch still creaked in the same spot. The mountain air hit my lungs like a long exhale after holding my breath for years.

Frasier carried both bags in one hand and opened the door with the other.

“Smells like cedar and bad coffee,” I said, stepping inside.

He smirked. “Welcome home, sunshine.”

I didn’t argue. I dropped onto the couch with a hiss, my ribs still taped and sore. He set our things down and crossed to me, leaning over to press a kiss to my forehead.

“You need anything?”

“Just this.”

He sat beside me and pulled me into his side, careful but firm. His hand found mine like it belonged there. Like I belonged there.

We didn’t talk about what came next.

Not yet.

The mission was over. The kids were safe. Reina had gone back underground. Axel and Lark were off chasing down the remaining leads.

For the first time in a long time, we didn’t have to run.

I was about to doze off when Frasier’s phone buzzed on the counter.

He didn’t move at first. Then sighed and got up, scanning the screen.

He froze.

“What is it?” I asked.

He looked over at me, jaw tight. “It’s from the contact I used to look into your mom.”

The blood in my veins turned to ice.

“She’s alive,” he said softly. “And they found her.”

I sat up too fast, pain flaring under my ribs. “Where?”

He walked over and sat beside me again, voice low, measured. “She’s in a long-term care facility just outside of Santa Fe. Has been for years. Severe dissociation. No listed next of kin.”

I stared at him, my throat dry. “She just… vanished.”

“She checked herself in under a different name. They only pieced it together after the Jane Doe fingerprint match finally hit a cross-database scan.”

“She’s been there this whole time?”

He nodded.

I didn’t cry.

Not yet.

I didn’t know how to feel.

But Frasier was there—steady as always, his hand sliding around mine.

“What do you want to do?” he asked gently.

I stared at the window, at the stillness of the trees, the place that finally felt safe.

“I want to see her,” I whispered.

“You don’t have to.”

“I know. But I need to.”

He nodded once. “Then I’m going with you.”

I looked up at him—this man who had fought for me, broken with me, loved me without asking for anything in return.

And for the first time in my life, I didn’t feel like I was walking into something alone.

I had Nate.

And maybe… maybe that meant I could face whatever came next.