Charlie grins, already heading for his usual seat by the window. “Hot chocolate, please!”
Violet laughs, nodding.
“Coming right up.” She winks at me as she heads behind the counter. “You look like you need something stronger than hot chocolate, Dakota.”
I lean against the counter, watching Charlie as he settles into his seat.
“I’m just trying to figure things out,” I admit quietly, low enough that only Violet can hear.
She pours the hot chocolate, pausing to look at me before turning to set it down in front of Charlie. “What’s going on?”
I take a deep breath, my mind racing as I weigh the words. “I’m still in a mess about what to do with the house. My original plan was to sell it and be gone. But now…”
I bite my bottom lip as Violet slides a drink my way. “But now you’ve grown a little bit attached to this town, right?”
I suck in a deep breath. “Ineverthought I’d get attached to this town.”
She shrugs and smiles. “It happens to the best of us.” Violet sets her hands on the counter, her expression softening. “It happened to me, remember? So you do havemehere. Mom, too. She’s been over the moon to have you back.” She cocks her head to one side curiously. “I mean, you do whatever is right for you and Charlie, but I kinda think this place suits you both.”
I nod, but it doesn’t make the decision any easier. “I’ve always been scared of being stuck, you know? Always afraid of rejection, afraid that if I stay in one place too long, things will fall apart. But I don’t feel like that anymore. Not with… not with Clint and the others. They’re… they’re here for us. And Charlie, he’s starting to get along with Clint really well.” My voice falters a little, and I have to swallow before continuing. “I’m just scared. What if I make the wrong choice?”
Violet smiles at me, and I feel her warmth, her steadiness. “You’re not alone in this, Dakota. And honestly, I don’t thinkstaying put is the wrong choice. It sounds to me like you’ve found something here. Something real.”
I glance at Charlie, who’s happily sipping his hot chocolate, and my heart tugs in my chest. He’s starting to feel at home here. He’s starting to feel like this could be our place. And maybe it could be my future, too.
“Is it crazy?” I ask, more to myself than to Violet. “Wanting to stay somewhere after all this time running?
Violet leans against the counter, her eyes thoughtful. “I think it’s human nature, Dakota. We all want to belong somewhere, whether we admit it or not. And sometimes… you just have to take the leap. You don’t have to be afraid of the people here. Alice, me, Clint, the guys at High Ridge… we’re not going anywhere. You’ve got support. And you’ve got Charlie, who clearly loves this place.”
I can’t help but smile at her words. “I do have Charlie.”
“And Clint,” she adds gently. “Sawyer and Reid, too.”
Clint, Sawyer, Reid. The knot in my chest tightens again, but it’s different this time. It’s not fear.
It’s something else. Hope, maybe. Or the hint of what could be if I stop running long enough to let myself belong.
“Yeah,” I whisper, more to myself than to Violet. “I do have them.”
Violet watches me, her eyes calm, like she’s been waiting for me to come to this conclusion all along. I think she knows me well enough by now to recognize the indecision in my face, the battle I’ve been waging for so long between staying and leaving.
She leans closer. “Listen, Dakota, no one’s saying this is easy. It’s never easy. But I think… I think you’re ready for this. You’ve got the people you need here. And you’ve got something real to offer. Something that you and Charlie deserve. You’ve got your roots right here.”
I swallow hard, looking at Charlie again. He’s humming softly to himself, lost in the comfort of his hot chocolate. A smile tugs at my lips. Maybe there’s something to hold on to here.
Maybe something worth fighting for.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Sawyer
Silence sits heavyin the room, the kind of silence that makes my ears ring. The only sound is the monitor’s soft whir and the way breath moves around the room as the three of us lean in.
Late afternoon light slides through dusty blinds and cuts across the footage on the screen. We’ve been chasing shadows for weeks.
Little things at first: a snapped fence post, a gate unlatched, feed tubs overturned. Annoyances that add up into loss we cannot afford. We barely salvaged what remained of the barn and the equipment strewn across the land.
Tonight, the new footage rolls, and it’s not an annoyance anymore. Cody and the Harlan brothers have really come through with their top-notch equipment.
