he could get away with this?” Evelyn looks as confused as I feel. None of this makes sense.
“I don’t know, but we’re going to find him.” Grant shakes my hand and heads out.
There’s a manhunt underway for my high school nemesis. I take Evelyn with me to the porch where we sit and I hold her hand. My brothers took the horses to the back pasture with the mares and just returned. They sit down beside us.
“So, Felix-fucking-Franklin?” Brody picks at his fingernails and shakes his head.
“Looks like,” I say.
“The fire on the ridge?” Cage runs a hand through his hair and joins Brody in the head shaking thing. “What the fuck was he thinking?”
“Do you think he lit that fire thinking it would hit your land?” Evelyn curls her fingers in mine.
“You mean start a massive forest fire out of spite and hope it reached our vineyard?” I try not to do it, but damn if I’m not shaking my head too.
“It’s possible.” She shrugs. “If he knew about the wind.”
“I don’t think Felix is that smart—although the way the wind pushed the fire that day, it kind of makes sense. It spilled right down the hills toward us.”
“You think he really tried to burn us out?” Brody props his elbows on his knees. “That fucker is whacked in the head. First, he tries to steal our land, then burn it to the ground?”
“It would be the end of La Rouge Vineyards.” I tilt my head back and stare at the stars. “Maybe that’s what he wanted? To put us out of business. He’d be able to come in with a low-ball offer and bail us out.” It sounds reasonable, but who knows what the fucker is thinking.
The fire raging across from us burns the barn down. Thank fuck Grady and his team are here. If not for them, we would’ve lost the vines as the fire spread.
“You think that’s what he wants? To put us out of business for good?” Cage’s lower lip curls inward. “He tried that when dad died.”
I scrub my hands over my face and let out a long breath. We talk for a bit, coming no closer to a reason behind Felix’s actions.
Exhaustion pulls at me as my mind drifts away. A light touch on my palm draws me back. It’s Evelyn tracing a heart on my palm.
I stand and pull Evelyn into my arms. “I almost lost you.”
For the first time, I know what my future holds. The future of La Rouge Vineyards may be up in the air, but my future is set. It belongs in the arms of my beautiful little backpack.
Her hair is a mess. The long curls singed at the tips. The rest of her hair is a knotted mess. Soot covers her face, broken only by the tracks of her tears. Like me, she reeks of woodsmoke. It permeates her clothes, her hair, and her skin.
A firestorm brought us together. The fire at her house brought her to me. But this last one?
It forged our future.
I pull her up the steps. Brody and Cage glance at me and give a nod. It’s the triplet thing. They know I’ve found my forever. And unlike Erin, they approve my choice.
“Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.” I gesture inside.
Evelyn looks at her dirt and soot-stained clothes. Her soft smile looks like heaven and settles inside of me where it lodges in my heart.
She’s the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen and encompasses everything I want in a woman.
Soft and tender.
Fierce and indestructible.
Her strength is uncompromising.
Her will to survive undeniable.
I can’t wait to get her inside and tell her I intend to stay right beside her wherever she chooses to go.
She’s not from around here and we agreed to no strings, but damn if there’s not something binding us together. If she chooses to leave, at least she’ll walk away knowing exactly how I feel. What I’m willing to give up to be right by her side.
We barely make it through the front door before her grip tightens and she pulls to a stop.
Our gazes lock, communicating without words, the fear we faced, working to free ourselves, and making it out of the barn alive.
She’s suddenly in my arms. Legs wrapped around my waist. Lips press against mine. I’m right there with her, running my hands along her back, cupping them beneath her gorgeous ass as I carry her through the house.
“I thought we weren’t going to make it.”
I thought the