She whispered a silent “amen.”
As Wyatt slowed, Kori glanced at him. “You weren’t kidding about this place being out of the way.”
“That’s by design.”
He turned and a steel gate appeared, a keypad mounted beside it. Wyatt rolled down his window and punched in a code. A couple of seconds later, the gate swung open.
Kori looked through the windshield as they drove through.
The modern, sprawling farmhouse sat at the end of the drive, white siding glowing softly under exterior lights. A pond stretched across the front yard, moonlight reflecting off the water where snow met the edge.
To the right she saw a row of kennels attached to a long white building.
“So, this is Refuge Cove?” she asked.
Wyatt nodded. “That’s right.”
“And part of it is for animals? And the other part a secret retreat center?”
He chuckled. “Something like that.”
Kori turned toward him. “What do you mean . . . ?”
“The real purpose is they operate as a shelter that helps women who need somewhere safe to land. Many of them don’t have anywhere else to go because they don’t want to leave their pets behind. We let them bring their dogs with them.”
“Why is it a secret?”
“Because these are women who don’t want to be found—who are in danger. So only a limited number of people know what we really do.”
She absorbed that information as Wyatt parked beside the house. Her admiration for Wyatt—and his family—grew even more. What they were doing was truly selfless.
Her job put her on the other side of the justice system. She went after those who did the crimes instead of helping the victims—though she supposed the right verdict did help the victims.
She was known as being relentless in the courtroom, thus her nickname as The Hammer. She’d been determined that mercy wouldn’t be a part of her vocabulary.
But a quiet voice inside her had been nagging her for a while now, almost as if trying to whisper that eliminating mercy wasn’t always the best choice.
She thought of Bartholomew Beekman. Funny that he’d come into her thoughts again.
When she’d heard he’d attacked the project manager, she’d gone after him with everything she had. But if she paused long enough, she could understand why he’d felt so desperate.
“You said your brother runs it with your sister?” she asked.
“That’s right. Caleb and Naomi. Millie also works here—she’s Caleb’s girlfriend. And we have Max, who’s worked here since before Refuge Cove was Refuge Cove.”
“And you mentioned something about a baby?”
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Yes. Her name is Grace. Naomi’s fostering her. It’s a long story, but she’s been a blessing.”
Kori hesitated. “That’s . . . a lot of responsibility.”
“Naomi is good at it.” He paused. “And by the way, she’s dating Micah—Sheriff Sutherland. So don’t be surprised if you see him here sometime.”
“Noted. It sounds like a busy place.”
Wyatt grinned. “It is—in a good way. And I haven’t even mentioned my mom yet. Ruby. She pops in and out.”
She tried to keep everyone straight. “It sounds like you have a tight family.”
“They’re the best. I don’t know what I would have done without them over the past few years.”
A surprising sense of longing hit Kori.
She’d never felt more alone than she had over the past two years since she and Mackenzie had been estranged. She’d told herself she was okay going through life alone.
But now she couldn’t help but wonder if that was true.
