“Yeah,” I say finally.
It is.
Just not in the way I thought it would be.
Luke nods once, like that’s all he needed.
“Then we protect it,” he says.
Not just the house but all of it, the land, the people on it, and the things tied to it.
Lane pushes off the post. “You planning on moving in right away?”
I look back at the house.
At the open doorway.
At the empty space inside that doesn’t feel empty anymore.
“Yeah,” I say.
Because distance isn’t an option anymore, not from this and not from her.
Wade glances at me. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
“No,” I answer honestly.
Then I push off the railing and turn toward the door.
“But it’s the only one that makes sense.”
I step inside, the sound of my boots shifting from wood to the quiet echo of finished floors, and it hits me all at once.
This isn’t just something I built.
This is where everything’s about to collide.
Behind me, I hear the others follow.
No hesitation, no second guessing, just presence.
We’re in this now, all the way in.
And as I look out through the front windows, past the land that doesn’t feel as empty as it should…
I know one thing for sure.
Whoever started this…isn’t done.
And now neither am I.
I hear her truck before I see it.
Gravel crunching slow, controlled, not rushed, not hesitant either.
Riley doesn’t do anything halfway.
I step back out onto the porch, leaning a shoulder against the post as she pulls up, Hadley in the passenger seat, talking about something with her hands like none of this exists outside her world.
