An Iron-Body Fighter Told Single Mom "Your Punches Are Useless" — She Was Down, 6 Seconds Later He Regretted!
Chapter 26
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"Show me again," Callie says.He does, slower this time, walking her through each piece, correcting her elbow, her hips, the angle of her back foot. It isn't graceful yet—it's rusty, uneven, full of small mistakes that make Silas wince more than once—but underneath the rust, something clean is still there, waiting.By the end of the hour, her arms feel like lead and her lungs burn in a way they haven't in years. But when she throws the full combination one last time—clean, fast, controlled—Silas doesn't say anything at all. He just nods once, slow: the same nod he's given her every morning for years, except this time it means something entirely different."That's enough for tonight," he says finally. "Go home. Rest. Whatever happens tomorrow, your body will remember more than your head thinks it will—the falling, especially. Don't overthink it if it comes to that; just let your body do what we practiced."Callie unwraps her hands slowly, watching her own knuckles, red and a little raw in the dim light of the empty gym. "Do you think I'll need it tomorrow?"Silas doesn't answer right away. He looks toward the front window, toward the darkened street outside, toward the community center a few blocks away where a banner is still hanging, waiting for Friday. "I think," he says carefully, "that some things have a way of finding you right when you're finally ready for them—whether you asked for that timing or not."It isn't a comforting answer; it isn't meant to be. But it's an honest one, and lately, Callie's decided she'd rather have honest than comforting.She gathers the library clippings and the folder from the metal box into a single manila envelope, tucking them safely into her bag. "Keep these somewhere safe tonight," Silas says. "Not in your car—not anywhere Gordon Aldridge's people might think to look if they get desperate enough.""You think it'll come to that?""I think a man who's already framed one boxer 20 years ago through his father and is currently trying to frame you through a donation jar isn't above a little more trouble if he feels cornered." Silas's face is grim. "Tomorrow we stop being careful and start being ready."Callie takes the envelope home and hides it in the bottom drawer of her dresser, beneath a stack of old sweaters she hasn't worn since Everett died. It feels strange tucking 22 years of quiet injustice next to reminders of her own grief, as though the house itself is slowly filling up with things Mill Haven would rather forget.Her phone rings just before 10:00, Opal's name on the screen. "Heard what happened at the gym today," Opal says without any greeting at all. "Dot called me the second she got home. You all right?""I'm fine, Opal. Bruised—nothing worse than that."