Familiar Ground

Grace Alistair is a former Marine working as a mechanic. Her days settle into a steady rhythm—work, routine, and a place to come back to at the end of it. The shop moves the same way most days, tools and conversation when it happens, quiet when it doesn’t. She keeps to herself, says what needs to be said, and leaves the rest alone. She doesn’t talk more than she has to, and she doesn’t make things bigger than they are. Most of the time, that’s enough.