Lighthouse Way (Huckleberry Bay 1)

“Okay.” I take a deep breath and cup his face in my hands. “I’m so sorry, Wolfe. So, so sorry.”

He closes his eyes and kisses my palm, then squeezes my hand.

“Me, too. I don’t know when I’ll get home, so don’t wait up.”

He hurries away, and I turn to June.

“Should we go?”

“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” June agrees. “Maybe that’ll urge some of the others to leave and get out of the way, too.”

We walk about a block over to June’s truck, and when we’re all settled in, she pulls away from the curb. She has to take the long way through town as most of the main roads are blocked because of the fire trucks, but we’re eventually headed out of town.

“Cullen looks great,” I comment.

“He loves the job,” June agrees.

We fall quiet again. Finally, I say, “Do you guys really need me? I mean, I’m happy to go help, but it’s also totally fine with me if you just drop me off at home.”

“You should go home,” Sarah says. “Honestly, there’s nothing to get settled. It’s just me, Petunia, and the clothes on my back. Go on home and decompress a bit.”

“Thanks. But if you need anything, just call me. I can be up there in just a few minutes.”

June turns onto Lighthouse Way. When we stop by the house, I’m surprised to see that the candles and pretty lights on the gazebo are all out.

Someone must have come up to take care of it while we were in town.

“Thanks for the ride,” I say as I hop out of the truck. “Call if you need me.”

“We will. Same goes,” June says through the window.

“Love you guys.”

“Love you, too,” Sarah calls as June turns around, and they drive away.

I should go inside, but I take a second to just breathe in the night air. I can still smell the smoke, and as exhausted as I am from the whole ordeal, I’m not sleepy.

So, with a quick look around outside, I head inside and straight back to the bedroom for a shower, to wash my hair and get rid of the smoke. Once I’m all clean and in comfy sweats and a T-shirt, I make a pot of tea and settle in my chair by the fireplace with Rose’s diary in my lap.

Before I open the book, I take a sip of tea and smell Rose in the room with me.

“Tonight was bad,” I say softly. “Poor Wolfe. He and Zeke put so much work into that garage. And in the span of just a few hours, it’s all gone.”

I shake my head sadly.

“What if he decides that all of this isn’t worth it and leaves? The way your DP left you?”

A door closes, and it makes me smile.

“Yeah, I’m being dramatic. Okay, I’m going to read through some more of this until Wolfe gets home.”

I crack open the diary and start to page through. I see mentions of a harsh winter, losing some animals to the cold, and then I turn to a page where she’s drawn some hearts and written her name.

With a man’s.

Rose Winchester loves Daniel P. Snow.

Rose Snow.

Rose Elaine Winchester-Snow.

It’s the doodles of a young woman in love and pining for the man she’s lost.

Except now I have a name.

“Who is Daniel Snow?”

I look up and blink.

“June’s last name is Snow!”

I glance at the time and decide to wait to call her until tomorrow. At past one in the morning, they’re probably all asleep.

But I’m excited to ask June and Annabelle some questions, and maybe solve the mystery of Rose’s first love.

I set the book aside and snuggle into the chair. I should go to bed, but I want to wait up for Wolfe and be here in case he needs anything.

Even if it’s just to talk.

“Come on, baby,” Wolfe whispers as he lifts me out of the chair and into his arms. “Let’s go to bed.”

“I’m sorry I fell asleep,” I reply and rest my cheek on his shoulder. “Tried to stay up.”

“You should sleep.”

I feel him walking down the hall, but I can’t open my eyes.

“Time is it?”

“After four,” he says and kisses my hair. He always kisses me. I can smell the smoke on him as he lowers me to the bed and tucks me in.

I hear him rustling about the room a bit, and then I hear the shower.

I doze, falling in and out of sleep, but when Wolfe returns to the bed and slips between the covers, I instinctively scoot to him, and he pulls me into his arms once more. My head rests on his chest as he kisses my forehead.

“I’m so fucking glad you’re here,” he says softly. “So damn glad.”

“Are you okay?” I open my eyes and frown up at him in the darkness. “Is your head hurting?”