The fire crews had been in touch with them. They’d remained on the property for hours after the flames were finally contained.
By the time Rowan had gone upstairs, the worst of it had been over, but the smell of smoke had still lingered faintly in the air.
An entire acre had burned.
According to Micah, investigators didn’t know what caused it yet.
A shiver worked through her despite the warmth of the room. If Wes hadn’t spotted the smoke when he did, the damagecould’ve been so much worse. The thought unsettled her more than she wanted to admit.
Because fires didn’t just appear out of nowhere.
And neither did fear.
For a moment, she let herself believe that maybe today would be different. Maybe things would settle.
The thought felt fragile, but she held onto it anyway.
She pushed herself up, the blanket slipping to her lap as her gaze drifted toward the nightstand.
A Bible sat there.
She hadn’t noticed it last night.
Of course, it was there. This had been Sarah’s house.
Faith had always been part of this place, woven into it in a way that didn’t demand attention but never disappeared either.
Rowan stared at the Bible.
She hadn’t opened one in years. Not really.
The realization landed harder than she expected.
She would still call herself a Christian if someone asked. Still would say she believed. But belief had become something distant, something she carried in name more than in practice.
Hollywood had made that easy.
Busy schedules. Late nights. Early mornings. Constant pressure to move forward, to chase the next opportunity. Everything was external—the focus on looks, appearances, image projections.
Meanwhile, internally, everything had felt rotten.
White-washed tombs . . . pretty on the outside but inwardly full of decay.
Was that what she’d become?
If she were honest, she’d admit her faith had slipped quietly into the background, pushed aside by things that felt more immediate and more necessary at the time.
Now . . . now those decisions felt like a mistake.
Rowan reached for the Bible before she could talk herself out of it. The leather cover felt familiar in her hands, even after all this time.
She opened it at random, her fingers brushing over the thin pages before settling.
She read the words.“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
She stilled. The verse settled deeper than she expected, cutting through the noise that had been building in her head since she left California.
Do the right thing. Even when it’s hard. Even when it cost something.
