CHAPTER 47
Kori wokebefore her alarm the next morning.
For one disoriented moment, she didn’t know where she was.
Then it came back. Refuge Cove.
She sat up and checked her phone: 5:47 a.m.
She already had three missed calls from her office and two emails flagged urgent. Her head pounded at the thought. Getting away from her job—even for a personal emergency—seemed impossible.
Could she live like this forever? She wasn’t sure.
She set the phone face down on the nightstand.
Whatever was happening in a DC courtroom right now was going to have to wait. She had people covering for her. They could handle things.
Then she remembered those videos she’d seen last night. She needed to tell Wyatt about them. She’d considered calling him in the middle of the night but had decided against it. Wyatt deserved to get some rest, and a few hours wouldn’t change anything.
He was picking her up this morning, and she’d tell him then.
She dressed quickly and then slipped out of her room.
She followed the smell of coffee to the kitchen.
Naomi was already standing at the counter in a thick robe with her hair loose around her shoulders. She looked up when Kori appeared and reached immediately for a second mug.
“I heard you moving around,” Naomi said. “Figured you’d be up early.”
“I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“You didn’t. Grace did.” She poured the coffee and slid it across the counter with a small smile. “She keeps her own schedule.”
“Thank you for this.” Kori wrapped both hands around the mug.
“I have almond milk. Would that work?”
“It sounds fantastic.”
Naomi pulled the carton from the fridge and handed it to her. Kori poured some into her drink, stirred it, and then took a small sip.
It tasted heavenly.
Naomi leaned her hip against the counter. “How are you holding up?”
She was tempted to give her a pat answer but decided against it. Instead, she shrugged. “I’ve been better.”
Naomi nodded as if she understood. “Wyatt will find your sister. He and Thunder are really good at what they do—and they’re determined.”
“I know. I just keep thinking about this new storm that’s coming through.”
“He’s thinking about it too. I’ve seen him work. When he sets his mind on something, he might be delayed, but he doesn’t stop.”
Kori looked at her. “Has he always been like that?”
“Always. Even as a kid. If he decided something mattered, that was it. The rest of the world could wait. One time, a man at church broke his leg and couldn’t tend to his apple orchard.Wyatt organized all the kids in youth group to go out and help. That’s just the kind of person he is.”
Kori thought about what Wyatt had told her—about Patagonia, about his fiancée who didn’t want to move, about the choice he’d made to come home anyway.
