I had to believe that.
26
— • —
Lina
I had just left the kids with Sarah and Serena when Cole grunted something about needing to be alone and walked away.
His shoulders were hunched, his gait unsteady, his whole body radiating a grief so profound it hurt just to look at him. I wanted to say something. Wanted to offer comfort or reassurance or anything that might ease his pain. But what could I possibly say? His son had been taken. His one-night stand had used their baby as a weapon. No words could fix that.
Noah took a step after him, his expression torn between worry for his friend and duty to me.
“Go,” I told him. “He needs someone right now.”
Noah shook his head, his jaw tight. “I can’t leave you unprotected.”
“I have guards. I’m surrounded by wolves who would die before letting anyone touch me.” I put a hand on his arm. “Cole needs you more than I do right now.”
He still hesitated, conflict clear in his green eyes.
I sighed. There was no winning this argument. Knox had probably threatened to skin Noah alive if anything happened to me, and my brother-in-law was taking that threat very seriously.
“Fine,” I said. “Then I need coffee. Take me to the shop.”
Noah’s brow furrowed. “The shop?”
“Winter’s Books and Brews. My shop. I haven’t been there since...” I trailed off. Since before the coma. Since before everything fell apart.
He considered it for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. But we’re taking the guards.”
“Obviously.”
The walk through Ravenshollow took longer than expected. Noah kept stopping to scan the tree line, his body tense and ready for an attack that never came. The guards flanked us in a loose formation, their presence both reassuring and exhausting.
When we finally reached the shop, I stood on the sidewalk for a moment and just looked at it.
This wasn’t the original Winter’s Books and Brews. That one was in Pine Valley, the building my parents had owned, the place where I had grown up surrounded by books and coffee and love. This shop was Knox’s gift to me. He had recreated everything soI could feel near home even when I wasn’t in Pine Valley. The interior was identical, every shelf and display and cozy reading nook replicated with painstaking detail. But the building itself was different.
Still, it was mine. Or close enough.
We walked inside and the smell hit me first. Coffee and old paper and something sweet baking in the back. The scent triggered a flash of memory from my old days at the original shop. Mornings spent helping my Mika and Vivi shelving books before opening. The way the light came through those different windows.
“Luna!”
The barista behind the counter, a young woman with bright pink hair and multiple ear piercings, practically bounced with excitement. I glanced at her name tag. Emily.
“Hi, Emily,” I said, grateful beyond words for that little piece of plastic. “It’s good to see you.”
“We’ve been so worried about you! Mika said you were recovering but we didn’t know when you’d be back and I’m just so glad you’re okay!”
More employees emerged from the back. A tall guy with glasses. A woman with curly gray hair. A teenager who couldn’t be older than nineteen. All of them wearing name tags. All of them looking at me with genuine relief and affection.
I said hello to each of them, using their names, pretending I totally knew who they were. It felt strange, but what else couldI do? They had been working for me for months, keeping this place running while my life spiraled into chaos.
I was in the middle of thanking Peter, the tall guy with glasses, for holding down the fort while I was gone and Mika was injured when I spotted a familiar face sitting at one of the corner tables.
Jasmine Thorne waved at me, a warm smile on her face. She was alone, a cup of coffee in front of her, a book open on the table.
