“Occupational hazard.”
She smiled, small and knowing. “You can’t fix everything, Eric.”
“Don’t have to,” I said. “Just don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”
Her gaze lingered, something unspoken passing between us. Then Braden’s laughter rang out from the porch, and the moment broke.
“I should help Elyna,” she said.
I nodded, even though part of me wanted to stop her. “I’ll see you tonight?”
“Maybe.”
I stayed there a minute longer after Harmony went inside, watching the light shift across the orchard and thinking about the letter folded in my father’s hand. Two things I couldn’t touch. Two things I didn’t have answers for. That’s what bothered me most, not the mystery itself, but the way everyone seemed to be quietly agreeing not to look too hard. Harmony had come back and chosen to face what she’d left behind. My father had done the opposite, packing the truth away and calling it protection. Somewhere between those two choices was the line I kept walking every day, convincing myself that holding things steady was the same as keeping people safe.
I didn’t follow Harmony inside. I didn’t go after my father either. For now, those were the only decisions I trusted myself to make—stay where I was, keep my hands off what wasn’t ready to be handled, and make sure nothing else slipped while we all pretended the ground wasn’t shifting under us. Tomorrow would come whether we were ready or not. When it did, I’d still be here, doing what I always did: paying attention, keeping watch, and waiting for the moment when not choosing stopped being an option.
CHAPTER 12
Harmony
The next morning, I walked down Main Street and went straight to Maple Valley. The main house was buzzing with life and smelled like cinnamon and buttercream. Elyna was in full event mode, commanding the kitchen like a general. It wasn’t just the wedding weekend and Thanksgiving weekend. It was Braden’s second birthday, and the Thornes had decided to celebrate it all in one long stretch of love and chaos.
Phoenix stood at the counter, trying to assemble a toy truck with missing screws while Elyna frosted cupcakes shaped like pumpkins. “You’re supposed to put the wheels on first,” she scolded, swiping icing off his nose with her finger.
He grinned, leaning in to kiss her. “You’re the boss, Wildflower.”
“Don’t you forget it,” she said, laughter spilling through the room.
Braden squealed from his high chair, smashing frosting between his hands, proud of himself like only a two-year-old could be. The whole kitchen erupted in laughter, and for a moment, I just stood there, watching. The golden lightstreaming through the windows, the hum of voices, the warmth of a family that felt so solid it almost hurt to look at.
Something twisted in my chest. Not jealousy exactly, it was more like longing. A soft ache for something I’d lost before I even knew how to want it. The sound of Elyna’s laughter brushed against something inside me that had been quiet for too long.
“You okay?” Sandy asked gently from beside me, as she set a tray of cider on the counter.
I smiled, small and practiced. “Yeah. Just… happy for them.”
She gave my shoulder a squeeze. “You belong here more than you think, kiddo.”
Maybe. But belonging had always come at a cost for me. After lunch, we took Braden outside to the orchard for cupcakes and pictures. The wind danced through the trees, carrying that sharp sweet scent of apples and damp earth. Braden toddled through the grass while Phoenix chased after him, both of them laughing. Elyna followed with her phone, snapping photos that would no doubt end up in the wedding video she was piecing together.
Eric appeared from behind one of the trees, carrying a wooden crate filled with cider bottles. His shirt clung to him in all the right places, sleeves rolled up, skin dusted with sunlight. When his gaze found mine, something inside me stilled.
“Hey,” he said, voice easy but warm. “You hiding out here?”
“Not hiding,” I countered, though my heart was still catching up. “Just… taking it all in.”
He set the crate down beside me, following my gaze toward Phoenix and Elyna. “They look good together.”
“Yeah. They do.” My voice caught a little, and I tried to cover it with a smile. “They make it look easy.”
He looked down at me then, really looked. “It’s never easy. They just fight for it anyway.”
That simple truth lingered in the air between us. The ache inside me shifted with less pain and more possibility. The soundof Elyna’s laugh drifted across the field again, and I felt Eric’s presence like gravity.
“Braden’s going to have everyone wrapped around his little finger,” I said, smiling as Phoenix swung him higher.
“He already does,” Eric replied. “But that’s what family’s for, to make the world feel a little safer while it can.”
