“About a year.” Would Alan really have continued to stalk and plead with her for another year or more before giving up? She hated that her freedom would have meant another woman was cast into the same nightmare she’d just narrowly escaped that day.

Harmony looked to Nolan for encouragement, then said, “And I’d like to press charges.”

“I figured you might. I still have more to get through here, but one of us will call you down to the station later today so we can talk in more detail.” She nodded at Harmony, then switched her focus to Nolan.

“I’d like to press charges, too. Whatever helps keep him far away from Harmony as long as possible.” He didn’t have much to add after making this declaration since he only knew about his side of the fight and whatever little Harmony had told him before that day.

It wasn’t long before the officer thanked him and headed over to the next table.

“I’m glad you’re not backing down,” Nolan said, reaching for her hands across the table. “That guy deserves to rot in jail.”

She sighed and leaned back in the booth, still clinging to Nolan’s hands which, unlike his face, were perfectly untouched. That’s what happened when a fight ended up so one-sided. “I’m no expert on the law, but something tells me that even with us pressing charges, there will be no rotting away for Alan. Either he’ll move on or he’ll be back.”

Nolan grimaced at this news, but didn’t seem to have any information to add to Harmony’s understanding of what was ahead. “Just to be safe, you should get a restraining order.”

“Oh, I will,” she promised. “But I’m not letting him run me out of my home. I belong here with all of you. It’s where I’ve always belonged.”

He squeezed her hands, and she felt the rapid beat of his pulse against her skin. “I’m glad you’re staying. Charleston just wouldn’t be the same without you.”

She forced a laugh. “Oh, please, I’m just one out of more than a hundred thousand people in this city.”

Nolan’s eyes seemed to dance as he held her in his gaze. “No just about it. You’re not just one. You’re the one.”

Her heart leaped in her chest. Earlier she’d been so afraid to have this conversation with him, but now she was glad it had arrived. Watching Nolan defend her from Alan’s advances without so much as raising a fist when he could have so easily overpowered the slighter man had cleared any last vestiges of doubt from her mind.

Nolan had never been just a friend.

“What are you saying?” she asked him, still afraid but also willing to face that fear. For him.

He lifted the napkin from his face that had been used to staunch the flow of blood and patted to make sure the wound had really finished bleeding out. When his tissue came away clean, he attempted a smile again.