There were downsides to success. Downsides like fans who became obsessed and didn’t respect boundaries.
Getting a security system installed had been on her to-do list. She’d actually called about it once, but the salesman had never shown up. He claimed he went to the wrong house. It seemed like one mishap after another had prevented that system from being installed.
Now, she regretted that.
As she turned, Luke studied her profile, concern etched between his brows. “You mentioned in one of your videos that you’ve dealt with obsessed followers before. Could it be one of them?”
“Maybe.” A shiver traced her spine that had nothing to do with the cold. “I’ve had a few who’ve ignored the boundary between admiration and intrusion.”
Luke looked at the back door again, his jaw tightening. Then he turned back to her. “You don’t feel safe here. It is a high crime area. And I’m surprised with your success you didn’t move somewhere more trendy or nicer . . . or safer.”
She hesitated and leaned against the wall. She’d gotten this question before—many times. “A lot of people don’t understand this, but I didn’t buy this place because I was looking for safety. I bought this place because I felt called here. Those aren’t always the same thing.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, tension threading his voice as he asked, “Why here?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Are we starting the interview?”
He took a step back and shook his head, some of his intenseness disappearing. “No, not yet. But I just can’t stopmyself from asking questions, I guess. People say you’re worth a lot, but you bought a house in a rundown neighborhood with high crime. Most influencers want to flaunt their success and move up in life.”
She shrugged. “Then maybe I’m not most influencers. Maybe my goal was never money or positioning myself for success. I just wanted to tell stories and help people.”
He stared at her, an unreadable expression on his face, before finally nodding. “That’s unusual in today’s culture.”
She turned to face him fully, forgetting about the hot chocolate a moment. “God told me to be faithful. And faith doesn’t choose the transparent door—the one where you know what’s behind it.”
For a long moment, Luke said nothing. His gaze lingered on her, steady and contemplative as if her words had left him unsettled.
She stared back, taking in the easy lines of his face. The intelligent—but inquisitive—eyes.
Whatever passed between them in that silence felt like the beginning of something neither of them had named yet.
CHAPTER 2
Luke Cross didn’t believeGod sent warnings through open pantry doors.
As a reporter and self-proclaimed pragmatist, he believed in statistics. In patterns. In motives.
And everything about Amayah’s situation pointed to poor judgment.
The house itself confirmed it. Old wood and cold air, layered with the faint scent of cinnamon and lemon cleaner—as if Amayah were trying to convince a tired structure to feel like home.
The floorboards creaked underfoot, and a draft slipped in from somewhere he hadn’t yet located. It wasn’t uninhabitable. Just . . . vulnerable. Like a place that wanted to matter but hadn’t fully caught up with the promise.
Snow gathered at the edges of the windows, almost making him forget just how bad this neighborhood really was.
Then there was Amayah.
She stood near the pantry, shoulders slightly squared, chin lifted in quiet determination even as tension pulsed beneath her calm. Soft blonde curls framed her face, a few strands escapingher knit hat, and her coat looked too thin for the kind of cold Minnesota specialized in.
She didn’t carry herself like someone reckless. More like someone stubbornly hopeful. Purposeful to the point of defiance.
Which made even less sense.
She’d built an entire empire by telling stories about doors—not so much architecture or history, but through metaphor and meaning.
She filmed them as sacred thresholds, places where grief and grace intersected, where people chose to cross from who they were into who they might become. Places where opportunities waited—and opportunities ended. The representation of good decisions and bad choices.
Luke had watched several of her videos while researching her. Her voice grew softer when she spoke about doors, like she believed those hinges really carried the weight of redemption.
