Sierra couldn’t look away if she tried. Huck’s tongue poked out in concentration as he tried to mirror Rowan’s movements. When he finally got the sequence right, Rowan’s face split into a grin that transformed his entire expression from controlled to boyish. The resemblance was becoming impossible to ignore—the same stubborn cowlick, the same way they both tilted their heads when thinking through a problem.
“They look good together,” Bailey said quietly.
Devastatingly good. Sierra’s chest tightened. “Last night he told me he still loved me.”
Bailey looked at her. “Girl—what?”
Sierra glanced at her.
“Aw, what is that face?” Bailey took another sip of coffee.
“I haven’t told him yet.”
“Sierra—”
“I know! I’ve had the conversation a thousand times in my head, but…what if…what if he’s angry? What if he walks out on us? On Huck. What if?—”
“Please.” Bailey glanced again at Huck and Rowan. “The fact he hasn’t figured it out already is…well, the man must be blind.”
“I keep sort of alluding to the fact that maybe…it was someone else.”
“Why?”
Sierra sighed. “I just?—”
“You’re tired of people leaving you.”
Sierra drew in a breath.
“You do know that when people die, they aren’t leaving you on purpose.”
“I know. But Rowan did die, on purpose. And didn’t tell me. On purpose.”
Bailey’s mouth made a grim line. “I get that. But he’s here now. And he still loves you. And you, Miss Do It Yourself, have loved Rowan Wallace since the fourth grade.”
Sierra’s throat tightened. “I just don’t…He was betrayed before. By a friend. And I could see the hurt in his eyes and…”
“You don’t want him to hate you.”
“I don’t want him to leave.”
“Look at that man. He’s crazy about your kid. Tell him. It’s time.”
“Sierra Blackwood?”
A dark-skinned woman in pressed khakis and a professional polo shirt approached, her graying hair pulled back in a neat bun. Cecily Simmons from Vanguard Insurance. The woman had that particular look of someone bearing news that wasn’t entirely good.
“Hi, Cecily.” Sierra forced a smile.
Cecily’s smile was warm, but her eyes held concern. “I was hoping to catch you. Save myself a trip out to the ranch.”
“Is there a problem with the claim?”
“Not exactly a problem.” Cecily glanced around, lowering her voice. “But the grapevine’s been talking, and…well, is there any hint that the barn fire could have been arson?”
Sierra frowned. “They came out last night, told us it was electrical.”
“Well, our investigator says that they marked it as still under investigation.”
