Chapter 6

six

R owan

This is my favorite part of the festival.

The city workers, townsfolk, and local landscapers have hauled in fallen trees and other natural debris and loaded it all onto the fire pit. When night falls, the fire department lights the bonfire while the town gathers to enjoy the warmth.

Tonight’s bonfire is extra special because I just met someone who makes me feel alive.

Couples huddle together, taking in the warm glow of the blazing fire. People pass around beers and bottles of wine and whiskey. Someone brings out their guitar and plays classic rock.

It reminds me of high school on these nights. Or the better parts of high school, anyway, when my fellow players on the football team would sneak beer onto somebody’s uncle’s farm in the middle of the night. Sometimes Sheriff Moody would bust up the party, but that was still considered a good night. Those memories are more than 10 years old, and most of my buddies have left Fate.

Tonight, the stars are bright and the air is chilly. And this new girl is making me wonder if there was a reason I stayed here all this time, watching my friends leave and get married one by one while I remained single.

Her friend, Esme, is talking to Sagan a few feet away from where we sit on a rough log bench near the fire. Those two seem pretty cozy. I wonder if Sagan knows who she is. Hell, I barely know who Esme Bryant is myself, and I couldn’t explain it to him if I wanted to.

I turn toward Briar and ask her to explain everything again.

She arches an eyebrow and grins with me over her hot cocoa. “Really? You wanna hear all of that again? Are you that interested in history?”

“Not really, “I say straight. “I just like listening to you talk about it.”

She laughs, and my heart kicks against my ribs. It hurts not to hold her against me. How can someone so sweet hurt so much to look at? I don’t always have all the answers to all the questions, but hell, I know the answer to that one—the ache won’t subside until I know she’s mine.

“Well, what do you wanna know about me?” Briar asks.

Here we go. My favorite subject.

“What’s your major in school?”

“History, with an emphasis on art and architecture. I’m hoping I can afford to stay in school to get my master’s degree.”

I nod, thinking about this. “So that explains an internship at a place like that. It’s weird to think that that a castle even exists here.”

“I can understand that,” she replies. “And I’ve never known a firefighter before. Have you always wanted to be one?”

I tell her that no, I never thought about it until I took one of those tests that the guidance counselor gave me in high school. “It said I was inclined to help people, so I should pursue a career in medicine. But there’s no way I could go to nursing or medical school. I wanted to get to work as soon as possible. So, the Fate fire department paid for my training in exchange for working there for at least four years. Now, eight years later, I’m one of two paid employees of the department. I hope to end up being chief someday.”

“I can attest that you are very good at helping people,” Briar says, her flirty smile wrecking me.

We stare at each other for a long moment, her red hair shining in the firelight. I desperately want to touch it, but I don’t dare.

“From what I can tell, you’re good at interning.”

She looks down at her lap and scoffs self-consciously.

“That remains to be seen,” she says. She then lifts her head and looks past me. “Wait a minute. Where is Esme?”

I turn toward Sagan, or where I thought he was.

Briar’s voice rises in pitch as she points to the opposite end of the log bench. “She was just there, talking to your boy.”

I ignore the way she said the word “boy” sarcastically because I know she’s worried about her friend.

“They must’ve taken a walk. Or gone to get some hotdogs for the fire.”

Briar stands up. “I don’t like this. This doesn’t feel right.”

I get up and follow her, determined not to let her fly into a panic. “Don’t worry. They’re around here somewhere.”

Together, we scour the entire company of folks gathered at the bonfire, as well as what remains of the visitors on the festival grounds.

I ask everyone I know if they’ve seen her, giving out her description: five foot ten, about 180 pounds, with long sandy-colored hair and green eyes, wearing a blazer and boots. She’s not easy to miss.

Suddenly, all the color drains from Briar’s face.

“Oh no. Esme, what did you do?”

Briar takes off at a run toward the street parking by the courthouse. “My car!”

Briar waves her arms wildly in the air. “My rental car is gone! Where…how…?”

This is bad.

I have to think. And when I have to think, I pace.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m thinking.”

Do we call the police? Do we want that kind of attention? I’m worried that will cause a problem for Briar. And who wants to be responsible for charging an heiress with a crime, especially when she seems a bit…off her rocker?

This is not how I would like my little town of Fate to end up in the national news.

Briar walks straight into the path that I’m wearing into the ground, fists both suspenders in one hand, and pulls me down to meet her eyes straight on. Her fierce gaze charges through me like an electrical current.

“This cannot get out, do you understand me? If anyone finds out who she is—I mean if anyone finds out that she is missing, that she stole a car, I will lose my job, and that will be the least of your worries.”

Briar’s face is an inch from mine. Her feminine scent washes over me and sends my mind into territory that’s far, far away from locating her friend. The things that I would do to get that scent on me and wear it all day like a shameless man whore would make her blush.

Her closeness has a magic in it, because I have an idea.

“The tattoo stand.”

She nods. “Let’s go.”

When we arrive at Faded Ink’s festival booth, the assistant manager tells me she didn’t see anything. “Sagan stopped here to get some supplies and said he’d be back. Said something about some lady asking for a special design.”

I take Briar’s hand in mine, and we run to my truck. I open the door for her, help her in, and get her buckled in despite her swatting my hands away, telling me I’m wasting time. I can’t help myself.

The three-minute ride across town brings us to an older neighborhood with old brick apartment buildings interspersed with tattoo parlors, a vape shop, and a convenience store.

When we arrive at Fated Ink, we find Sagan scratching something on the inside of Esme’s wrist.

“Sagan, can I talk to you?”

He pauses and glances up at me. “In a minute, brother. I’m with a customer.”

“Your customer there is a missing person. Briar here has been worried sick,” I tell him.

Technically, Esme has committed grand theft auto—I think—so I would be justified in pulling her from the chair in the middle of this procedure. I could call the sheriff—just to drive home to Esme the seriousness of what she’s done—and pray that the sheriff would be discreet.

Briar scrubs a hand over her face. “I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe on my first day, we missed dinner, she stole my car, and she ended up with a permanent tattoo on her wrist. I am so fired.”

I try to put the tattoo in perspective. “She’s a grown adult. If she wants a tattoo, she can get a tattoo.”

“I can hear you!” Esme calls over, her eyes trained on Sagan.

We wait, fidgeting in silence.

“All done, baby girl,” Sagan says in his growly tone.

Briar sits up straight and mutters, “Excuse me? Baby girl?”

Sagan wipes away the excess ink. We walk over to Esme, and there on her wrist is a small, perfect, red cardinal perched on a bare branch. The inside of her wrist is red from the needle, but the work is masterful.

“And why did you need to steal my car and get a tattoo?” Briar says.

Esme blinks up at her and says with dead seriousness, “For protection. Because you’re right. You’ll probably be fired.” She’s completely ignoring the part where she stole the car, but that can be sorted out.

The heiress turns to Sagan. “What do I owe you?”

Sagan looks at her with such deep longing that I feel it myself. It could not be more spelled out on his face if this were a movie.

“Free of charge,” he says.

He still hasn’t let go of her hand.

“Esme, I hate to break up this little moment, but we are leaving,” Briar says firmly. I do not think she’s sorry to break up their moment at all, actually.

The heiress becomes surprisingly compliant at Briar’s tone. “OK.” She turns to Sagan. “See you around, I hope.”

I think everyone can feel Sagan’s eyes on her as we leave the tattoo parlor.

Esme hands Briar the keys to the Prius, gets into the passenger seat, and waits.

“I guess this is it,” Briar says, turning to me as I hover at her side.

“Is it?” The ache in my chest grows as if my heart knows she’s almost out of reach.

Briar smiles up at me. “Thank you so much for all your help.”

She has more to say, but she hesitates.

I open my arms to offer her a hug.

With eyes shining, she reaches up and pulls me down for a kiss on the lips.

Shocking, sensual, and unexpected. My three favorite things.

Briar’s lips are soft and insistent. In response, my hand automatically goes to her hair, brushing her loose curls away from her face.

She pulls away before I’ve even gotten started.

“Really,” she breathes. “Thank you so much.”