“For reminding me I’m not the only one who knows what it felt like to grow up in that house.”
Dustin’s voice gentled. “We survived, Ben. Now it’s time to live.”
We hung up a few minutes later, the way brothers do, abrupt, no goodbyes, just a grunt and a click.
But I sat there for a long time afterward, staring at my phone and wondering if it was possible to rewrite the script I’d been living.
Maybe I couldn’t promise forever.
But maybe I could start withshowing up, even if I was terrified.
Especially if I was.
Chapter Seventeen
Fifi
War had been declared.
Not a violent war. Not even one with raised voices or passive-aggressive sticky notes.
No, this was a war ofwills.
A battle of scowls versus sunshine.
And the battleground? My home turf.
The Honey Leaf Lodge.
Because apparently Ben Jensen, the tall, flannel-wrapped enigma with the emotional availability of a decorative pinecone, had decided to double down on the grumpiness. And I?
I had decided that was unacceptable.
“Nobody,” I muttered to myself, stomping back toward the lodge, “nobody comes to the Honey Leaf Lodge grumpy and leavesgrumpier.That’s not how this works.”
Behind me, Sienna’s voice rose, delighted. “Oh no. Has he resisted theFifi Effect? Is your magic finally wearing off?”
I whipped around and gave her my best glare. Which, granted, wasn’t all that intimidating considering I was still slightly damp, hair puffed from the humidity, and had grass clippings stuck to my shoes.
She leaned casually against the fence, arms crossed, grinning like she had front-row tickets to a doomed romance she was narrating in real-time.
“I’m serious,” I said. “He’s like… like if someone crossbred a thundercloud with a very intense alligator.”
Sienna snorted. “What does that even mean?”
“I don’tknow.But his eyes practically shoot darts at me.”
“Maybe he’s flirting.”
“That man does not flirt. He broods. He glowers. He grimaces like it’s an Olympic sport and he’s going for gold.”
“Well,” she said with a shrug, “maybe that’s just his way.”
“Of saying what? I hate you, but in a meaningful way?”
She laughed again, pushing off the fence. “You’re in deep.”
“I am not,” I huffed, spinning back toward the lodge. “I amannoyed.There’s a difference.”
