"I know," he says, then reaches one hand out toward her, touching her shoulder first before he shifts on the cane and tries to draw her toward him. "It's okay. Come here." He still wishes she'd said something, that he'd known, that he'd been more aware and had been able to tell that she wasn't well, but he can't change the past. Joel regrets a lot of things, but he's doing his best to let them go, to look toward the future he has now; with Spencer, with Raleigh, with Charlotte coming back to Siren Cove.

It isn't always easy, but he's trying.

He hooks his arm around her shoulders, drawing her toward him for a hug. "It's okay," he says again. "I understand." And he feels a little better now, too, having talked to her about it. It's not just a punch in the gut anymore, not seeing her face and hearing her talk about it, not knowing now all the reasons she'd written it and why she'd written it to him. It still hurts, but it's a hurt he can handle.