The gentle suggestion in his words hung in the air—a possibility she wasn’t ready to consider. Her crew, her people, the team she’d built with such care. The family she’d created around this vision. People whose children’s birthdays she remembered, whose personal struggles she’d supported with the same sunshine optimism she brought to everything.
“My crew wouldn’t do this,” Ivy said, the words coming out firmer than she’d intended. “They believe in this project.”
“I’m just saying we should keep all possibilities open. The physical evidence suggests someone with intimate knowledge.”
“Maya’s group has been photographing the site for weeks,” Ivy countered. “They could have planned this from those images.”
Henry stepped closer, his voice softening further, the gruff ranger blending into the man who had held her through the night storm. “Ivy, I understand these people are important to you. But reading the evidence without bias is what leads to truth.” He reached for her hand. “Sometimes the hardest answers are where the evidence points.”
“So I should just suspect everyone I’ve trusted?” The words came out sharper than she intended, carrying the sting of old wounds—academic betrayals, Dr. Wells publishing her findings under his name.
“You should be open to every possibility,” Henry replied carefully. “Your optimism is one of your greatest strengths, but sometimes?—”
“Sometimes it blinds me?” Ivy finished, an old insecurity flaring. “You think I don’t know how to see people clearly?” The mate bond hummed between them, vibrating with conflicting emotions.
Before Henry could respond, the sound of vehicles pulling up outside interrupted them, the familiar rumble of construction trucks and the chatter of arriving workers breaking through their tense bubble. The crew had arrived for their day’s work, and among them was Maya Wilson, walking alongside several workers with whom she’d evidently been talking.
Maya entered the exhibition space, her expression shifting from curiosity to shock as she took in the vandalized area, her footsteps faltering as if she’d walked into an invisible barrier. “What the hell happened here?” she asked, her eyes widening with what appeared to be genuine horror.
“Someone broke in overnight,” Henry said. “Used your group’s slogans to mark the place.”
Maya’s face flushed. “You think I did this?”
“I didn’t say that,” Henry said. “But someone went to great lengths to copy your rhetoric word for word.”
“This is a frame job, plain and simple,” Maya snapped, gesturing wildly at the graffiti, her movements sharp with indignation. “I would never destroy educational materials. That’s completely counter to everything we stand for.”
Ivy studied her reaction carefully. The outrage seemed genuine, the shock unfeigned. The pattern of Maya’s heartbeat, the subtle scents of her emotional state that Ivy’s enhanced senses could detect—all pointed toward innocence. “I believe you, Maya.”
Henry made a sound of frustration. “We need to consider all possibilities, Ivy. Including the uncomfortable ones.” He turned to study the gathered construction crew, who were murmuring among themselves at the destruction, their expressions ranging from shock to anger to what might have been guilt on somefaces. “Someone managed to get in with the right tools at the right time. Someone who knew exactly what would hurt you most.”
The tension between them crackled like static electricity. Ivy felt the gulf widening with each exchange. These were her people—her team, her vision, her chosen family in this work. Having Henry scrutinize them like suspects felt like a betrayal, even as her rational mind acknowledged his logic.
“Not everyone deserves your trust,” Henry said quietly, for her ears alone, his breath warm against her ear as he leaned close. “Sometimes your optimism blinds you to what’s right in front of you.”
The words landed like a physical blow, striking deeper than he could know. Here was her deepest fear voiced aloud. Her face heated, tears threatening to form despite her best efforts to maintain the composed, sunshine-Ivy exterior that everyone expected. The mask she wore so carefully, felt suddenly transparent and fragile.
“I need to give my statement to the police,” Ivy said, noticing the patrol car pulling into the parking lot, lights cutting through the morning mist. “I think you should go.”
Henry stared at her, clearly conflicted. “Ivy, I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m trying to protect you.”
“By suggesting I’m too naive to judge people’s character? By implying I can’t see what’s right in front of me?” The hurt transformed to anger, safer and cleaner than the vulnerability beneath it. “I don’t need that kind of protection. I need a partner who respects my judgment.”
Henry stood his ground for a moment longer, clearly torn between his protective instincts and her request. Finally, he nodded, turning to go. Ivy watched him walk away, the mate bond stretched by their first real conflict. The separation hurt in ways she hadn’t anticipated, her bear whining in confusion at the distance between them.
As Henry’s truck disappeared down the access road, Ivy squared her shoulders and turned to face the police officers approaching, summoning her professional demeanor from beneath the turmoil. The nature center needed her.
Chapter
Fifteen
Several days later,Henry stomped through the underbrush, each heavy footfall crushing pine needles beneath his boots. The rhythm of his movement usually calmed him, but today the forest’s peace eluded him. His conversation with Ivy had been replaying in his mind like a splinter he couldn’t extract for the last three days. The hurt in her eyes when he’d questioned her judgment had struck deeper than he’d intended.
“Damn it,” he muttered to no one, a nearby chickadee startling at the sudden sound.
The wildlife corridor stretched before him, a critical path that allowed animals to move safely between different parts of the forest. This section stood several miles from the nature center, but formed part of the same ecosystem he was determined to protect. He’d been patrolling since dawn, throwing himself into work rather than facing the hollow feeling that had settled in his chest. Ivy hadn’t called. Hadn’t texted. And neither had he.
His bear rumbled unhappily beneath his skin. The animal within disliked this separation, pushing Henry to return to her. But the human side of him remained stubborn. He’d spoken the truthas he saw it. Someone was systematically attacking the nature center, and Ivy’s tendency to see the best in people could blind her to genuine threats.
