He pulled into his driveway and sat in the dark truck, staring at his empty house.
Tomorrow. He'd fix this tomorrow. He had to. Because a life without Chloe wasn't a life he wanted to live.
28
CHLOE
The knock came just after nine.
Chloe sat on the edge of the bed in the small guest room, her suitcase unopened on the floor, her hands clasped tight in her lap. She'd been sitting like this for an hour, maybe more. Trying to think. Trying to figure out what came next.
"It's Diana."
She didn't answer, but the door opened anyway. Diana slipped through, a mug of something steaming in each hand, and settled into the chair by the window without asking permission.
"Chamomile," she said, holding out one of the mugs. "Freya's blend. She's downstairs, by the way. Wants to see you when you're ready."
"You called her?"
"She called me. Apparently Corin called Elias, who called Twyla, who called Freya." Diana's amber eyes were gentle but direct. "Small town. Word travels."
Chloe took the mug, wrapping her cold fingers around its warmth. "He came here."
"He did."
"What did he say?"
"That he's not angry. That the land went quiet when you left." Diana paused, her curls catching the lamplight. "That you belong here, whether you believe it or not."
Chloe stared into her tea, watching the steam curl upward and swallowed the lump that began to form in her throat again.
"I was trying to do the right thing," she said quietly. "If I'm the reason all of this is happening, if someone's targeting me and the whole town is suffering because of it, then leaving is the only responsible choice."
"Is that what you believe? That you're responsible?"
"I don't know what I believe anymore." She set the mug down, pressing her palms against her eyes. "Every time I think I've found a place where I belong, something happens. Someone decides I'm too strange, too dangerous, too much. And I pack up and move on because it's easier than fighting."
"Is that what you want to do now? Move on?"
"No." The word came out sharper than she expected. "No. I want to stay. I want to be with Corin and work with Freya and help this town figure out what's happening to the land. But what I want doesn't matter if my being here is making everything worse."
Diana didn’t respond, she just walked to the door.
"Come downstairs. Freya's waiting. And I think you need to hear what she has to say."
Chloe followed her down the narrow staircase to the inn's small sitting room. A fire crackled in the hearth, casting warm light across worn furniture and faded rugs. Freya sat in one of the armchairs, her copper hair loose around her shoulders, her green eyes fixed on the doorway.
She stood when Chloe entered, crossing the room to pull her into a tight hug.
"You scared us."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. Just sit down and talk to me."
They settled into the chairs by the fire, Diana hovering near the doorway like a quiet guardian. Chloe clutched her mug and tried to find the words.
"I overheard something today," she said finally. "Jasper Mince. He was talking to someone behind the Mercantile, telling them I was the cause of all this. That the contamination follows me wherever I go. That if I really cared about Hollow Oak, I'd leave."
