Fleur breaks away from Liam and pulls Lily in for a hug. “It’s so wonderful to meet you in person. I feel like I know you from our emails, but it’s good to have you back in Mississippi for a visit. The photos of the house are amazing so far.”
In the weeks since my stint in the hospital, we’ve gutted half the kitchen. Well, our contractor has. At first, when we ripped out the dated backsplash, it was heavy. It felt like removing a small piece of my mother—her passing still so fresh. But I imagined my mother looking down over us and calling us idiots, sayingOh please, I’m dead, not blind. It’s tile, not a shrine. Make this house a home with her already.
It’s become easier, and now when they strip the walls or tear up the flooring, it doesn’t feel so much like a loss, but creation. I want to build this for us. A place to hear her unencumbered laughter, a place for her to write unburdened, a space for her chaos to exhale.
Liam doesn’t say much more, just keeps glancing at Lily and then back at me. His eyes are steady, scruffy jaw tight, butthen his expression softens. He nods to me. No smile, just a mutual understanding between two men who both love the same woman in different ways.
Fleur grins at the two of us. “Come on. Let’s get your bags. Ruin is waiting.”
LILY
The rocker moves beneath me over my parents’ front porch. Back and forth. Slow and steady. The motion settles me, and I only wish Max were here for me to run my fingers through his fur.
Night wraps the old plantation, lit only by the glow of the porch lights. Fireflies blink out in my mother’s garden and past the winding dirt road that leads here. I inhale a deep breath of magnolia and warm spring air and then tuck my legs up under me, letting the breeze play with the loose strands of my hair. Somewhere in the distance, the whippoorwills sing and crickets answer, drifting in like an old bedtime lullaby.
It takes me back.
I thought I’d be inundated with memories of Bran: sneaking out, the parties,thenight that started it all. Instead, I’m reminded of the trails my brothers and I used to explore, the community, my parents slow dancing barefoot on the back porch. This isn’t home now, but it’s not a place I want to run from anymore.
My parents, grandparents, Liam, Fleur—they all love Noah, and I smile into my knee as I think about him. Consumed. I’m consumed with him, and it was not at all created by an infatuation, but by a true foundation based on trust and respect.
Noah sat with me as I spoke with my parents, finally telling them what had happened to me all those frightful years ago. It was healing in a way, but not the kind that was necessary to move on and be happy. I’d done that on my own. No, this was for us as a family, and with my parents worried for Adam, who’s disappeared after the joint raid against Darrin Reynolds, I think my parents appreciated me confiding in them.
The front door squeaks open and Noah pops his head out. “You ready to head back to the bed-and-breakfast? Liam and Fleur are heading to their apartment soon.”
I nod, rocking back and eyeing Noah. His blue T-shirt hangs loose over his blue jeans, and I pull my lip between my teeth, imagining him in his uniform instead. I’ve come toreallyenjoy that outfit on him.
He smiles and shakes his head, shutting the door behind him and padding over to the rocker beside me. He sits. “You can’t look at me like that, Lil.”
“Why not?”
He gives me a look. “Because I can’t do the things I want to do to you at your grandparents’ bed-and-breakfast.”
I pout.
“You’re making it worse.” He drags a hand over his face.
I snicker and climb out of my rocker and onto his lap, tucking my head against his chest. The heady musk of him invades my nostrils, and I close my eyes, relishing it.
“Fleur said when their farmhouse is finished we need to come back,” he says.
I open an eye and peek at him. “I’d like that, but I hope the next time I come back to Ruin, Adam can be here. I hate he was somehow used by Raven, too.”
“I’ll do what I can to help. If there’s any chatter back home among the NPS or FBI regarding Raven’s dispersed people, I’ll pass it along to the authorities here.”
I nod.
The hanging ferns along the top of the porch roof sway and rustle in the whispering wind, and I trace the wrinkles on Noah’s shirt. He grabs my hand to still me, and I look up. His gentle expression is serious, and his fingers find my chin, tilting it up with the slightest pressure. Everything seems too quiet when the pad of his thumb ghosts just beneath my lip. My heart runs awaywith itself; I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to Noah’s reverent gaze or the way he treats me like his reason for breathing.
“When is it okay for me to ask you to marry me?”
My mouth pops open, and while smiling, he lightly shuts it. “Noah … I?—”
“I know it’s not now, or even a month from now, but I’m so in love with you, Lil. I want you to be mine in every way.”
Then he leans in. It’s not rushed, or hungry, justcertain.
I’m his, and he is mine.
