Then quietly—
carefully—
“I believe you.”
My breath caught.
But this time the words didn’t cut through me.
They settled.
Warm.
Steady.
Real.
And sitting there on the floor beside him while morning light filled the flower shop—
for the first time in years—
I didn’t feel alone.
15
Ace
By sunrise, I already knew two things.
This story was about to explode.
And Tessa wasn’t ready for it.
I stood outside the Ranger office with my phone pressed to my ear, cold morning air biting at the back of my neck while the town slowly woke around me.
Blaze sighed on the other end. “Say that again.”
“I pushed the footage through a few back channels.”
A truck rumbled past on Main Street.
Blaze muttered something under his breath. “You realize once this spreads, there’s no pulling it back.”
“That’s the point.”
“No,” he corrected. “The point was proving she was innocent. What you did was light a match and throw it into dry grass.”
My gaze drifted automatically toward Bloom & Vine down the street.
The lights inside were still off.
Good.
Maybe she was finally sleeping.
“People deserve the truth,” I said quietly.
Blaze snorted softly. “Truth’s messy, man.”
