5
EVERETT
Three days.
Three days of waking up with Rowan in my bed. Three days of coffee together before dawn, her bare feet tucked under her on my kitchen stool. Three days of watching her work through my father's records with the kind of focus that makes me want to interrupt her just to see her eyes flash.
Three days of falling for a woman who could still destroy everything.
I'm splitting wood behind the cabin when Hank's truck pulls up. He climbs out looking like someone kicked his dog.
"What?" I set down the axe.
"There's a guy at the office. From the county." He spits on the ground. "Her boss, I think. Showed up about twenty minutes ago."
My stomach drops. "Where's Rowan?"
"Inside with him. Ev—" He hesitates. "He didn't look happy."
I'm in my truck before he finishes the sentence.
The drive to the office takes five minutes. I make it in three. When I pull up, there's a black sedan parked next to Rowan's truck. Government plates. I can see two figures through the window, standing close together.
I kill the engine and sit for a moment. Trying to calm the panic clawing up my throat.
She wouldn't. After everything we shared, everything she said about wanting to find out where this goes. She wouldn't turn around and stab me in the back.
But I don't actually know her, do I? Three days isn't a lifetime. Three days is barely a blink. And she's got a career to protect. A supervisor to answer to. A whole life in Portland that has nothing to do with me or my trees or my family's legacy.
I get out of the truck.
The office door opens before I reach it. Rowan steps out, her face pale. Behind her is a man in a suit. Gray hair, sharp eyes, the kind of expression that says he's used to being obeyed.
"Mr. Cole." He extends his hand. "Greg Martinez. I supervise Ms. Cafferty's department."
I shake his hand because that's what you do. "What brings you to Whisper Vale, Mr. Martinez?"
"Concerns about the audit timeline." He glances at Rowan. She won't meet my eyes. "Ms. Cafferty's preliminary report was... unexpectedly positive. Given the nature of your operation, I wanted to verify her findings personally."
"Unexpectedly positive."
"We've had issues with family logging operations in this region. Environmental violations, falsified records. The county has taken a harder line in recent years."
"And you thought I was gonna be another problem."
"I thought Ms. Cafferty might have been compromised." His eyes flick between us. Taking in whatever he sees on my face. On hers. "Her report reads like a love letter to your operation,Mr. Cole. Either you're running the most exemplary logging operation in Nevada, or my compliance officer has lost her objectivity."
The silence stretches. Rowan's hands are clenched at her sides.
"The records are accurate," she says quietly. "I documented everything. Photos, measurements, GPS coordinates of every site we visited. You can verify it yourself."
"Oh, I intend to." Martinez pulls a folder from under his arm. "In the meantime, you're off this audit. I'm assigning Peterson to finish the review."
"Greg—"
"This isn't a discussion." His voice hardens. "You've been staying at the subject's residence. Eating his food. Sharing his bed, from what I can gather. Your credibility is shot, Rowan. I should have pulled you the moment you told me there was no hotel availability."
My jaw tightens. "She was doing her job."
