“Clearly, you do.”
His eyes narrowed. “This isn’t your business.”
“I made it my business the second I stepped onto this farm and saw how much you were losing. The second I sawyour kids trying to hold it all together like it was their job to keep the walls from caving in.”
Thunder rumbled off in the distance as Ethan stared back at her.
She lowered her voice. “If you won’t fight for the house, fine. But fight for them.”
He stepped closer, his voice low. “Maybe things have changed between us since you first got here, but hanging around for a couple weeks doesn’t give you the right to fix what you don’t understand.”
“I’m not trying to fix it,” she snapped. “I’m trying to keep your kid from watching plans for her home get taken away like it doesn’t matter!”
One of the officials took a small step back, having the good sense to look sheepish. The others kept their heads down, pretending to focus on their measurements.
Ethan's mouth twisted, as if the words were pulled from a place he didn’t mean to go but couldn’t stop himself. “Tell me, Ms. Baxter, what do you know about keeping a family afloat? Paying bills with no net, no backup, no magic fix? What do you actually know about being responsible for more than just yourself?”
Honey reeled back.
“Just finish up,” he said to the men, and then, without waiting for a response, stormed back toward the house.
Honey stared after him, heart pounding, throat tight. Then she turned back to the suits and said, steady and clear, “Come back when you’ve provided legal notice and received confirmation of delivery. Until then, this is trespassing.”
The man closest to her responded, “You’re serious?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “You want to see serious? Try measuring this house with me standing here.”
He looked at her, and whatever he saw in her expression made him pause. He nodded slowly.
He exhaled through his nose. “Alright,” he muttered. “I’ll send the notice tomorrow.”
The men gave her stiff nods, climbed into their trucks, and rolled off down the drive, with their taillights blinking red in the darkness.
Honey stayed rooted in place as the adrenaline subsided.
Behind her, the first fat drop of rain splashed against the gravel. Then another.
She tilted her face to the sky, let the rain hit her skin, and wondered if she was already too late.
Chapter 19
Honey
Honey was at the kitchen table sorting…something. It wasn’t clear what, exactly, but there were bins, labeled in her neat block letters, and the satisfying rush of lining them up just right. Then Ethan was suddenly beside her, leaning over to inspect the baskets. She caught the clean scent of his aftershave and the warmth of his forearm as it landed next to hers. His mouth was close and his breath brushed her ear.
“You are amazing,” he said. Goosebumps erupted on the back of her neck. “Look at that system. I want you to do my room next.”
“Noted,” she sighed as he nuzzled into her neck.
“Honey.”
His cheek scraped roughly against hers, his lips a breath away. Maybe he hadn’t heard her. “Noted,” she said again, a little louder.
“Honey!”
“I said noted!” But by the end of her sentence, the bins were gone, the table was gone, and the delicious anticipation of an almost-kiss vanished. Instead, she was sittingupright in the bubblegum-pink room, clutching a fistful of blanket.
Ethan was there. Not dream-Ethan but a real, muddy-booted, panic-eyed Ethan.
