There were only two families she could think of who’d do something like that. “The Hendersons or the Hardings.”
“We feel it’s most likely the Hardings—it’s more their MO. Richard is in prison, but his family hasn’t gone quiet. This is the third inquiry in the past twelve months. Before that there were zoning complaints, an anonymous tip to the state about our kennel licensing, a noise ordinance challenge. The Hardings can’t get to us directly, so they use whatever’s available.”
“That’s terrible.”
“And now that we have custody of Grace, they’ve upped their antics. We have more court dates coming up. There’s a chance they’ll get some rights.”
She sucked in a breath. “But they’re bad people.”
Caleb grimaced. “I don’t think they’d hurt Grace. But I do fear they’d disappear with her.”
“That would be terrible.”
Rowan stared at her brother.
She hadn’t been home for three years. While she was away building a career that was now publicly collapsing, her family had been quietly absorbing all this—the inquiries, the court dates, the harassment—without a word to her.
Not because they didn’t trust her.
But because they hadn’t wanted to burden her with it.
And she hadn’t asked.
Had she ever made a good decision in her life?
Right now, it felt like she hadn’t.
So many roads she’d taken had only led to failure. Wes. Vince. Thayer.
Some of those failures she could explain.
They’d happened because she’d compromised—something she’d vowed to never do.
She looked back at the road where the county vehicle had disappeared.
She still didn’t know how to make any of it right. But standing here watching her family absorb one more hit, she knew one thing with certainty.
She was done letting her family carry these burdens without her.
CHAPTER 12
“Why didn’tyou tell me that all this was going on?” Rowan stared at Caleb as they stood face-to-face in the yard. “I could have helped or offered moral support or . . . I could have donesomething.”
Caleb hesitated then shrugged. “I don’t know what to say. You had your own life. I didn’t want to interrupt it.”
The words were gentle, but that didn’t stop them from landing the way they did.
Your own life.
Rowandidhave her own life. She’d built it carefully and deliberately, piece by piece, always moving forward and looking toward the next project or advancement. Virginia had been the place she was from, not the place she was going. It had been the place that would hold her back, not the place that would advance her.
Maybe she’d gotten the order reversed, however.
She raised her chin. “I should have been here.”
“You’re here now.” Caleb’s tone didn’t carry any accusation, which somehow made it harder to hear.
Rowan looked at the road.
