So I could stop wondering if today was the day she’d choose us.
If there will ever be a day she chooses us.
But now that it’s happening in real time and Nolan’s hovering way too close to the truth—too close to exposing her biggest fear, everything in me wants to hide it.
Hide her.
Shield her from the heartache she fears.
It has to come from her.
The last thing I’ll ever do is trick Sierra Barrett into the one thing she’s always feared—just so I can finally have what I want.
And I won’t let that be my legacy.
Not with her.
“Sierra's the best preservation consultant in the state,” I say. “That's why she's here.”
“That's not what I asked.”
“It'sthe only answer that matters. Sierra’s a private person. She gets to choose what she shares with Tara.”
And with you. Even if it guts me to wait. To hope.
Nolan studies me for a long moment, his expression unreadable. “Watch yourself around Tara,” he says. “She's hunting for something. And if she can't find it, she'll create it.”
“Noted.”
My phone buzzes again. I glance at the screen.
Mom again.
He just pulled in. I'm sorry, honey.
“Heads up,” I say, pocketing the phone. “My father's here.”
Caleb winces. “He saw the hashtag?”
“Apparently.”
“Want us to clear out?” Roman's already rising from his chair.
I should say yes. Whatever's about to happen between me and my father doesn't need an audience.
But some stubborn part of me—the part that's been carrying this lodge alone for months while my father second-guessed every decision from the comfort of his retirement—wants witnesses.
“Stay,” I say. “You're partners. You should hear this.”
The look that passes between the three of them tells me they understand exactly what I'm not saying.
Chapter Seventeen
Everett
Bruce Morgan entersa room the way he does everything: like he owns it.
To be fair, for thirty-five years, this office belonged to him. The desk where I'm standing, the chair where Roman's sitting, the view through that window—all of it was his domain.
