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He hadn’t meant to hurt her.

He’d wanted her to understand, sure.

He’d felt like she wasn’t listening, like she didn’t understand, and hell, he had a stake in that. He hadn’t explained. So he’d decided to explain.

He hadn’t thought she’d run away.

In truth, he hadn’t thought that she had it in her to run away. She had proved that she was such a stubborn little cuss, he had imagined that she would offer to build a wall or something to keep the grave area private.

He certainly hadn’t imagined that she would look like she wanted to burst into tears. But that was exactly how she’d looked. And so he found himself doing something he’d never done before. He went down the main highway, and when he saw the sign over the big wide dirt road that read Four Corners, he turned right onto that road.

There was a sign right up front that said King’s Crest. And then there was Garrett’s Watch. McCloud’s Landing. And a few minutes later, he saw a sign with directions to Sullivan’s Point.

He turned, heading toward what he knew was Quinn’s domain.

The site of the white ranch house surprised him. It was pretty and pristine, a big green yard out front, with glorious weeping willows all around. There was a large fenced-in garden with barricades tall enough to keep deer out.

It was a beautiful place. It really was its own world, though, and he could see how people got lost in it. How it became the only thing. Hell, if he lived in a place like this, he might feel that way, too.

It was like a house from another era. And when the door opened, and a pretty redhead in a long floral dress came out, he really felt like it could be another era.

“Levi Granger.”

The woman tilted her head and gave him a skeptical look.

“You must be Fia Sullivan.”

She smiled. “I am.”

“The older sister.”

“Yes.”

“I came to see if Quinn is here.”

Fia arched a brow. “Why exactly are you looking for my sister, Mr. Granger?”

“Because she left my place very upset this morning, and I wanted to make sure she was all right.”

Fia nodded. “Yes. She came back here very upset. So you can see that I’m not altogether amenable to the idea of giving you her location. I want to know what you did to make her upset.”

“I showed her my parents’ graves. Which as it happens is right off the road that you want to use. So it was part of the discussion. She was unhappy when I showed it to her, and she ran away.”

Fia frowned. “Oh. I’m...I’m sorry to hear about that. Maybe you and I should talk about...”

“I just want to talk to Quinn.”

Fia nodded. “She’s out back.”

She gestured around the side of the house, and he walked to the backyard.

Where he saw her. She was sitting on a swing that hung from a long oak branch. She had on a white dress that billowed around her, her red hair loose. Her feet were bare; it felt notable in the same way her white shoes and socks did.

She was holding a book, clutching it tightly in her grip. He wondered if she was reading or just staring at the pages.

“Hey there.”

She looked up from the book she was reading. He didn’t know what kind of book it was. She liked to read. Just for fun.