The driveway was shorter than she remembered.
Everything about her hometown felt smaller now — the grocery store, the cracked sidewalks, the whispers that still followed her last name like dust trailing a storm.
Savannah White stepped out of her car and stared at the house she used to call home. Porch light on. Wind chimes singing that same tired melody. And one black SUV parked in the gravel beside her brother’s old truck.
Her stomach dropped.
She knew that vehicle.
The door opened before she could knock.
“Sis,” Noah greeted with that crooked grin and a bone-crushing hug that smelled like sawdust and aftershave. “Took you long enough.”
She laughed into his shoulder. “Miss me or just the leftovers I always bring?”
“Both. Come in before the mosquitoes carry you off.”
The familiar scent of cedar and lemon cleaner hit her the second she crossed the threshold. It was like she’d never left. Except… she had.
Three years gone. And now she was back — not for the holidays, not for a visit. For good. Or at least, until she figured out what came next.
“I made up the guest room for you,” Noah said, leading her down the hall. “Bathroom’s still finicky. Hot water takes a minute.”
“Like everything else around here,” she muttered.
But then she stopped in the doorway.
There was a duffel bag on the bed. Combat boots tucked neatly beside it. A black shirt slung over the back of the chair.
And then—his voice.
“Didn’t realize you were showing up tonight.”
Savannah turned slowly.
And there he was.
Jace Carter.
Taller than she remembered. Broader. Hair a little longer, jaw a little sharper. But those eyes… same storm-gray that used to look through her like she was a window he couldn’t quite open.
She swallowed. “Didn’t realize you were here.”
Noah clapped a hand on Jace’s shoulder. “He’s crashing here for a couple weeks. Helping me install the security system at the shop.”
Of course he was.
Of course he would be in the guest room.
“Hope that’s not a problem,” Noah added, oblivious.
Jace said nothing.
Savannah forced a smile. “Nope. Not a problem.”
But it was. Because the last time she’d seen Jace, she’d almost kissed him. And he’d walked away like she was poison.