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Blake was finally warm as dawn pinked the sky outside the window in Savannah’s living room. She had invited them all to stay

with her for the next few days while the floodwaters went down. Her house was full to bursting with all of them. The boys

had a blast “camping out” with their sleeping bags in the spare room with their mother. The boys hadn’t made an appearance

yet this morning, but it was only six fifteen, and his mother sat in a chair with her hands wrapped around a coffee mug.

Blake sipped his hot cup of coffee. Bliss . Even more like heaven was the wonderful woman curled up beside him on the sofa, who’d braved storm and flood along with

tigers and hyenas to rescue him.

Clark snored in the chair across from them. The road to his house had flooded out, and he had nowhere to go, so he’d parked

his truck outside and had slept in it for a few hours before coming in for coffee—and promptly falling back asleep.

There were more people in the kitchen—Jane Dixon, Savannah, and Hez banged around fixing breakfast while talking over the events. Last night Jane, Rod, and Nora had gone over the interrogations with Hez and figured out what had happened. Blake had been too exhausted to care then, but he cared now, though not enough to disturb the sleeping beauty beside him. All the whys and wherefores could wait while his gaze traced the sweet curve of her lips and jaw.

They had challenges yet to face. He couldn’t picture leaving his mom and the boys on their own just yet, but one obstacle

was out of the way. Still, last night had proven Paradise was the sticking kind. He could have died last night—she could have

too. Yet here they were, safe and sound. And warm. Warmth was something he’d never take for granted again.

Jane entered with Hez trailing her. “Breakfast is almost ready, but I wanted to hear again what happened. You were in severe

hypothermia last night and weren’t making much sense.”

They’d tried to make him stay at the hospital, but the rooms were all full so they’d opted to bring him here. “I’m a lot more

clearheaded now.”

Paradise stirred and sat up. “Is it morning?”

“Sure is.” He pulled her against him. “But you can go back to sleep.”

She shook her head. “I want to hear what Jane found out.”

Jane dropped into a chair. “It’s a long story. Owen’s in financial trouble. He invested his savings in some stocks that tanked,

and he started gambling over in Mississippi to try to hit it big. He was siphoning off funds to pay his gambling debts instead

of making his business payments. When he went on vacation, Hank poked through the books and found the discrepancies. He confronted

Owen about it and told him he was going to report it. Owen begged for a chance to put the money back, and Hank gave him three

months.”

Blake’s mother put her mug on the table beside her. “Owen has skipped most of the payments since Hank died. I haven’t bugged him about the business payments because I’ve been concentrating on making things work at The Sanctuary.”

“You should have told me,” Blake said. “I could have talked to him.”

“You had enough to worry about without that. Finish what you’ve learned, Jane.”

Jane took a sip of her coffee. “Hank sent him a message and said he was going to file charges, so Owen went to see him to

plead for more time. He found Hank in the barn, and they argued. Hank refused to give him more time, and Owen shoved him.

Hank stumbled and hit the railing in the haymow at the right spot and toppled over.

“Though he hadn’t intended to kill Hank, Owen thought he was home free and no one knew about his embezzlement or his involvement

in Hank’s death. But his money woes were far from over, and a loan shark started hassling him to pay the money he lost gambling.

He lived a lavish lifestyle, but no one knew what he was doing to fund it. When Lacey was working for him, they began a relationship,

and she saw his money as a way of getting out of her own financial problems. She’s raising a niece and is struggling.”

“She told me about that,” Blake said.

“Lacey had a friend who worked for one of the gas companies in the area. He told her there were some valuable gas deposits

on the property here. She told Owen about it, and he convinced the loan shark that he could force Jenna to sell and would

cut him in on the profit from the gas deposits. He gave him six months to get it done, and time was running out.”

Blake absorbed the news. “What about Danielle Mason’s death? Was it related?”

“The Mason woman was Owen’s cousin, and he enlisted her help with the blockade and media attacks. She wanted a bigger cut of the pie when it came, and they argued about the terms. Danielle slapped Lacey and called her a tramp and said she wasn’t good enough for Owen. Danielle was holding the knife, and the two women fought over it. Lacey got control of it, and Danielle was ‘accidentally’ stabbed.” Jane made quotation marks with her fingers. “Not sure how you accidentally stab someone to death.”

“So they continued on with the sabotage without her?” Paradise asked.

“Lacey did. She had access to everything, and she sabotaged the enclosures to harass the family even more. She arranged for

activists to shoot at the bear enclosure. They were running out of time.” Jane hesitated. “One more thing—they claim to know

nothing about the break-ins. There were three, right?”

Blake nodded. Could they be lying? “Why try to shoot me tonight?”

Jane lifted a brow. “‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’ Lacey was furious with you, and she convinced Owen that without

your help here, Jenna would have to sell.”

“She wasn’t wrong,” his mother said.

Blake pulled Paradise closer to his side. This all could have gone wrong in so many ways.

“What happens to the veterinary business?”

“Hez is going to go over the agreement, but it’s been in default, so he thinks ownership will revert to your mother. It’s

unlikely Owen’s wife will be able to come up with that much money. Your mom will have to find another purchaser or simply

sell the building and move on.” Jane turned back toward the kitchen. “There’s fresh coffee and pancakes in here.”

“Be right there.” It was a lot to take in. An idea began to coalesce in his mind. He tightened his arm around Paradise. “What if you took the veterinary business?”

***

Paradise was barely aware of moving to the kitchen to choke down a pancake and chase it with coffee strong enough to dissolve

her spoon. Blake’s suggestion was outrageous—wasn’t it? She didn’t know anything about running a business. While medical needs

for the animals here didn’t really require full-time work, she liked filling in. It kept the day interesting.

Did she really want to upset her happy place here by taking on that kind of challenge and responsibility? Her work had been

with exotic animals, and while she was trained on the household variety of pets, her heart was with the wild kind. But in

spite of all that, the thought of being in control of her own home and business tugged at her. When she was in foster care,

she had no control over anything—not even where she’d sleep at night. This would be hers .

After breakfast she slipped away to the front porch to evaluate the yard. What was left of it. The wind had torn petals from

the azaleas and roses, and rain had flooded the low areas. It would recover though.

She settled in a rocker and the door opened behind her. She didn’t need to turn around to know Blake had followed her.

“Mind if I join you?” He dropped into the other chair without waiting for a response. “My suggestion floored you, didn’t it?

I saw the color drain out of your face.”

“It’s a lot to think about. I don’t know how to run a business.”

“You could do it.” He blew out a breath. “Hez just dropped a bombshell. He doesn’t think Sheriff Davis killed your parents.”

She gasped. “What has he found?”

“A DNA profile was part of the original investigation, and the sheriff submitted his DNA to rule him out. The report wasn’t

in the printed file, and Hez tracked it down through his contact in Pelican Harbor. He wasn’t a match according to the report.”

“Then who killed them?”

“The investigation stalled, and the killer was never found. I hated to tell you because at least you had closure. Now you’re

back to square one.”

Her stomach cramped, and she folded her arms across her midsection. She was so tired. Investigation was exhausting, and she

wasn’t sure where to look next. Maybe she should forget it and concentrate on finding her brother. But could she live with

knowing justice hadn’t arrived for her parents after all?

Blake’s suggestion about taking over the vet business had hit hard too. Was he trying to get rid of her after everything they’d

been through? Her feelings of inadequacy were going to take longer than she’d thought to heal. One suggestion and she was

questioning how he felt.

Her gaze lingered on him. What a good man. While she wanted to be his wife with every fiber of her being, he didn’t need the

distraction right now. All of this news would cause a media storm, and not all of it would be good. This could torpedo The

Sanctuary, and Blake had to focus on ensuring the long-term stability of the business so his brothers could take it over eventually.

It shouldn’t take long—maybe a year to turn things around. And in the meantime she could become part of the fabric of the

town, the warp and weft of building a life here.

She cupped his face in her hands. “I’m going to do it. I’ll work alongside you here, and I’ll take over the animal care in town. I’ll be in town and I might get to know my family a little better. And I can focus on finding my brother and whoever murdered my parents.”

His immediate smile came as if he couldn’t believe it. “We’ll get through these next few months, and it will be worth it.”

“I have a few stipulations.”

“Name them.”

“Can we do pizza with the boys every Friday night?”

A tender expression lightened his face. “Anytime you want.”

“How about s’mores by the campfire on the weekends? And fishing with Bertha on Saturdays?”

“You could ask for that North Star up there and I’d try to give it to you.”

He’d shown her the true North Star by the way he lived and loved. “You already did.” She wrapped her arms around him and kissed

him.

They had twists and turns to navigate, but one thing she knew—at Blake’s side was where she belonged, no matter how long it

took to figure things out.