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“Well, yeah, you’re picking me up here. I don’t have a car,” I pointed out.

“I meant you’re coming with me to a party at Fireweed Winery.”

“Oh, I forgot they opened a new location in Willow Brook. What’s the party for?” I was feeling tired and still a little crappy about myself, which had been my baseline for a solid stretch of time now. Self-esteem had never been my strong suit, but I was working on it.

“Lincoln Silver is engaged,” my brother explained.

“What? When did Lincoln come back to town?” I sputtered, staring up at him.

Ranger wasn’t looking at me as he answered, striding to lift my bag off the curb where I’d set it when he pulled up in front of the hotel. “Last year. Back for good.”

“Oh, okay. Wow. That’s awesome,” I said.

Ranger hefted my bag easily and grinned. “Half that damn family’s either engaged or married now.”

“Seriously?” The Silver brothers were all handsome, all dark-haired and blue-eyed in varying shades. Big strapping men, kind of like my brother. His best friend happened to be one of those Silvers—Grady. My nemesis and my old high school crush, secretly of course.

Within minutes we were driving toward Willow Brook. Ranger chatted casually about life. I’d missed my brother. He was a firefighter and loved his job. Our mom worried about him, because well, she worried about everybody, myself included.

“You don’t mind going straight there?” he asked.

I was a little nervous about it, but I wasn’t about to fess up to that. “Whatever. Might as well just dump me into the water. Sink or swim, right?”

Ranger flashed a grin, winking.

“Speaking of settling down, what’s going on with you? Are you seeing anyone?”

Ranger’s eyes went wide as he glanced over. “Oh, my God, no.”

“That’s not a crazy question,” I pointed out, reaching across the console and cuffing him lightly on the shoulder. “You’d survive if you ever dated someone or heaven forbid got serious.”

“Whatever. What about you?”

I had no plans to fill him in on the inglorious and humiliating end to my last relationship. The only point of pride in the entire situation was that I hadn’t hesitated to dump Pete on the spot.

“You happy to be coming home?” he added.

I contemplated his question seriously. My feelings were mixed. I’d been known as the quiet nerd in high school. Such a nerd, honestly. I was racing up to my thirtieth birthday, which was facing me sooner than I wanted. I’d gained a little wisdom and insight in my time away from Alaska, namely that the way we thought and felt in high school wasn’t an accurate indicator of who we actually were, or how others saw us. But coming home was a whole thing. I was battling enough of my own insecurities. I wanted to come home confident, brush self-doubt off my shoulders, and hold my head high. I would do my best with that. Small towns were sometimes tricky. Everyone knew everything, sometimes it could feel like they knew more than you even knew about yourself.

“I think so.”

“You scored a good job,” Ranger pointed out.

“I hope so.” I felt good about my job. I’d taken a position at the local hospital as a doctor in the emergency room.

In short order, Ranger was rolling up outside Fireweed Winery. “Oh, wow. This is a nice place.” I took in the building, updated with a colorful sign. They’d renovated an old plane hangar, the outside now painted with a wash color and it was surrounded by flowers. The marsh nearby offered a gorgeous view with the mountains against the skyline.

“Yeah. Wait until you see the inside. They did an incredible job.”

“How many people are going to be here?” I couldn’t help but ask.

My brother’s answer was a shrug. I took a deep breath, my belly fluttering with anticipation as we approached. It was easier than I thought because we were instantly swept into the crowd. I knew everyone in the Silver family, and I felt welcomed in a way I hadn’t expected.

It was all fine and well until I was walking down the hallway and Grady Silver, my brother’s best friend, who along with my brother had teased me endlessly, came walking out of a doorway and ran straight into me.

“Oof!” I exclaimed as I bounced back.

His head whipped up. “I’m sorry. Oh! Whoa!” Grady said, his eyes going wide.