I’ve lived in Pine Creek my entire life—well, almost my entire life. I was born in Massachusetts but was placed up for adoption when I was only a baby, and the couple who adopted me moved back here, where they both grew up.
I was nine months old when we came to Pine Creek. For all intents and purposes, this place has been my home my entire life. I know everyone, and they know me. We all support each other, which I was certainly grateful for after my parents’ accident thirteen years ago. I was barely eighteen when I lost them. But I had a town to rally around me. An entire family of people who made sure I didn’t lose myself too.
That familiar knot of grief wells up inside of me, and I have to actively fight it back down. It was a season of grief and pain. One thing after another for three years after I lost them. God is the only reason I survived, and I believe wholeheartedly He guided the town to close in around me so I didn’t feel so alone.
“Here you go, honey.” Talia sets a mug down in front of me, the hot water already turning a pale brown, thanks to the bag of fresh spices steeping inside. “Food will be up in a moment.”
“Great. Thanks.” As she steps away, I slide my list back into my purse, then withdraw my latest read—a swoony romance about two people who survive a plane crash and end up marooned on an island. Rivals to romance—my favorite.
There’s just something about that moment when they finally realize that everything they’ve been fighting against is everything they need.
If only things worked like that in real life. An all-too-familiar face swims into the front of my memory, but I bat it back down.
No. There’s no time for shattered dreams and broken hearts right now.
This has been a good day, and it will continue to be a good day.
As I focus on the words printed across the pages, I completely tune out the world around me, letting myself be fully engulfed in the story, the characters, the everything. Here, I can block out all of my own problems and watch as the characters solve theirs. Here, things are easy. A safe formula I can count on.
Girl meets boy.
Chaos ensues.
Boy chooses girl over everything.
There is no life after the happily-ever-after, where things can still fall apart.
No broken promises.
“Hey there, bookworm.”
I jolt a bit, then turn and smile at Riley Hunt as he slides onto the stool beside me. The third oldest, Riley has always been a bit more laid-back than the rest of his brothers. Not that they’re overly serious…well, Tucker’s not.
His dark hair is a mess as though he’s been running his hands through it all day, and he’s wearing his ranch clothes, which means he’s been out working rather than running errands. Not surprising—the Hunts are hard workers and the first to lend a hand if things go sideways.
“Hey yourself, Mr. Hunt. No Romeo?” I ask, noting that his service dog, an adorable German shepherd named Romeo, is nowhere to be seen.
“Nah, he’s with Jules today. She’s meeting with one of her charges, and the girl loves dogs. She’s hoping he’ll help her open up a bit, and I know he’ll keep my wife safe. Win-win all the way around.”
After suffering trauma no one should have to go through, Jules turned her pain into strength and now spends quite a bit of time in Dallas at the center for Find Me, a company that rescues trafficking victims from all over the world.
Frank Loyotta, who runs Find Me, occasionally calls in outside help for particularly hard cases. All five of the Hunt brothers have been called in on more than one occasion to aid in rescue missions since they run their own search and rescue company. And now, Jules is the one who helps these victims transition back into whatever normalcy they can find. Because she’s been through it too.
“It’s so great that she’s doing that.”
“She loves it.” His pride shines all over his face.
“I’m glad.” I beam at him, then look at the book he set on the counter in front of him. “What did you bring today?”
“A thriller. You?”
“Romance.” I hold mine up. “You know me.”
He laughs. “That, I do.”
I practically grew up alongside the Hunt family. First, it started out with me being friends with the youngest of the Hunts—Lani. We bonded over both being adopted and became friends despite the one-year age gap between us.
Then I met Dylan. And my entire world shifted. If only it would shift back.
