Sabrina opened her mouth.Closed it again."I haven't...decided."
"She tried Maggie," Colby said."No room at the inn."
Bree shot him a brief look that said they would unpack that particular joke later, then focused on Sabrina again."Come to the farmhouse.We've got the guest room all set up—fresh sheets, the good towels.You can stay as long as you need."
Sabrina shook her head almost before she heard the end of the sentence."I can't intrude on you two."
"It's not intruding," Bree said firmly."It's you being safe.And inside.And not alone."
"You just got married."Sabrina forced a weak smile that felt more like a grimace."You don't need me camped out in your guest room, crying all night and using all your hot water."
Bree's mouth pressed flat."You're allowed to fall apart in my house."
"I know."Sabrina's throat tightened, pressure building behind her eyes."That's the problem."
Bree blinked."What?"
"If I come to your place, you'll sit with me and hand me tea and look at me with those big pitying eyes, and I will actually come apart.Completely.All the way."Sabrina glanced toward the ruins, then back to her friend."And once I start, I don't know if I'll be able to stop.Right now, I need to hold it together enough to figure out what to do next.I need to be able to think."
Bree's eyes shone in the fading light."It's not pity."
"I know."Sabrina reached out and squeezed her forearm, feeling the delicate bones beneath the oversized sleeve."It's love.That's worse."
Bree let out a breath that sounded half laugh, half sob."You are allowed to be loved, you know.It's not a character flaw."
Sabrina didn't answer that.She looked down at the gravel, then up at Colby.
He watched her, steady and quiet, that same subtle focus he'd had at the hospital and the fire line.No pity in his expression.No flinching.Only assessment, like he was working through a problem and had nearly landed on an answer he was willing to share.
He shifted his hat to his other hand."Bree's right about one thing," he said."You shouldn't be alone tonight."
"I'll manage," Sabrina said again, softer now, the words losing conviction even as she spoke them.
Colby tilted his head."You keep using that word like it's a plan."
"It is a plan."She crossed her arms, trying to reclaim some ground."I can grab a blanket from my cabin and set up in the office.The desk chair reclines.I've slept in worse."
"The cabin is on the same property that just turned into a crime scene," he said, his voice going gentle in a way that made her chest ache."And, honey, there's nothing left of the cabin.It was engulfed with the house."
Sabrina's gaze moved to the spot where her little caretaker's cottage had stood for the past four years.Where she'd hung curtains she'd sewn herself and kept a pot of herbs on the windowsill and fallen asleep to the sound of the lake through the screen door.
There was nothing there now but a blackened rectangle of foundation.
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed once, twice, three times.Her eyes watered and glistened in the light from the remaining fire truck, and she blinked hard, refusing to let the tears fall.Not yet.Not here.
Bree's voice came carefully and low."Your ex?"
Sabrina gave a tiny shake of her head."Later."
"Okay," Bree said slowly, exchanging a look with Colby."Later.”
"I don't want to sit at your kitchen table and cry."Sabrina's voice broke on the last word, which did not help her argument.She swallowed it down, forcing steel back into her spine.
Colby spoke before Bree could."What about my place?"
Both women looked at him.
He shrugged one shoulder, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world."It's quiet.About ten minutes from here, out past the marina.I've got a spare room that I was going to turn into a home office until I stopped pretending I knew how to do paperwork anywhere but the station or the garage.Bed's already there.Door locks.Nobody comes out that way unless they mean to."He paused, letting that sink in."If your ex is still in town and watching the inn, he won't think to look for you at some random firefighter's cottage."
