Page 30 of Branded Souls (Ember Hollow Romance #3)

Skye

I stood on the porch, suitcase gripped tightly in one hand, the other curled in a fist against my side.

The old wooden boards creaked under my shoes, like they always had.

The Ramsey house was exactly as it had been when I was younger.

The smell of rosemary and lemon balm from the little herb planter near the steps tickled my nose.

The same wind chimes clinked gently overhead in the breeze.

The same front door stood before me. The one that used to fly open before I even knocked, back when I belonged here.

Raleigh might welcome me with open arms, but it still felt like I stood on the edge of something fragile. What would the rest of the family think of me? August and Graham seemed okay with me, but I wouldn’t blame any one of them for hating me.

Fox stood beside me, close enough that the heat from his body softened the autumn chill. I’d barely said a word on the ride over, and he hadn’t pushed. But now, as I stared at the door, he turned toward me .

Reaching up, he brushed a loose piece of hair back from my face. His knuckles were rough, but his touch was painfully gentle. When I didn’t pull away, he tilted my chin until I met his eyes.

“You okay?”

The question settled in my chest like a stone. Was I okay? In what universe would that word ever apply again?

“In what context?” I tried to keep my voice steady. The weariness behind it gave me away.

His expression darkened, a flicker of pain there that nearly cracked me open.

“If anything happens,” he said, voice cautious but firm, “something like last night…do you promise you’ll come to me?”

My breath hitched. He meant the panic attack. Not the cameras. Not the threat of my father hanging over my head. But that moment, curled in his arms, spiraling into the dark with no way out.

I wasn’t close to that now, but I wasn’t steady, either. It was like looking at my reflection on water—I knew what was real, but it wavered. One big splash could shatter me.

“I’ll be all right,” I said.

His grip on my chin tightened a fraction. “But you’ll tell me when you’re struggling? Please?”

My skin heated at the way he looked at me. There was desperation in him, but there was something else too. Something wanting. Something fragile. Like I could bring him to his knees with a word.

I didn’t know whether I could keep that promise, but I nodded anyway.

Some tension in his body eased, his shoulders dropping slightly .

“Okay,” he murmured. Then he let me go and faced the door. “You ready?”

I wasn’t.

“Yes,” I said.

He stepped forward, pulled the front door open, and held it for me.

Just like that, I was back in the house I’d once called home, and the house I’d vowed never to come back to.

I spent a couple of days getting settled in at the bed-and-breakfast. If rejection was what I expected when I came to stay, it wasn’t anything I experienced.

Raleigh and Warner were beyond kind and hospitable.

They were downright loving.

Raleigh made every meal from scratch and served it at the kitchen table. Eating had become something I looked forward to daily. It felt so normal. So critical to sit and eat a meal with people who honestly seemed to care.

Not being alone was one of the things keeping me together.

Fox worked long hours trying to find my father, and I was with him most days at Hearthstone Security.

The office had plenty of room for me to work on the documentary.

My editor back in the city had been requesting more footage, and collaborated with me on changes to the script to accommodate the Shadow Stalker interview.

Before I knew it, Sunday night family dinner had rolled around .

The kitchen smelled like warm bread, garlic, and a dash of basil. My stomach twisted, both from hunger and nerves. The home was absolutely bustling, almost bursting at the seams with the Ramsey clan.

Though I’d been at the house for a couple of days, I hadn’t seen everyone yet—not like this.

Reid had grown into a whole man since I’d last seen him.

I barely recognized him at first, his very pregnant wife tucked under his arm as she sipped a mug of hot tea.

He and Lark stood in the corner of the kitchen, speaking softly between themselves as a very bubbly girl with dark-brown curls bounced around, doing her best to help Graham set the table.

Emersyn and August were sitting with Warner, Fox’s dad, and Roman. They seemed to be in some kind of discussion about a certain portion of the wraparound porch that needed mending.

I felt awkward as hell, standing as close to the entryway as possible, out of the way of everyone and everything. It had been so long since I’d seen most of these people. I was afraid to mess this up.

Fox wasn’t anywhere to be seen yet. He had checked in with me earlier in the day, but I hadn’t seen him since. I didn’t want to admit how much I needed him by my side at this moment.

“You sure you don’t need any help, Ma?” Roman tried, yet again, to help his mom, who was fluttering between pots and pans.

She waved her son off like she had every other person who offered their assistance. “I’ve got it, sweetheart.”

The little girl tripped on something, or perhaps it was her own two feet, and tumbled to the floor, sending a handful of cutlery clattering everywhere .

“Whoa.” Roman jumped up from his seat and scooped up his little girl. “You all right there, Hails?”

The girl, Hailey, blew a few wisps of hair from her flushed cheeks. “Geeze.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m fine, Daddy.” She wiggled in his arms. “Let me down so I can finish! I was supposed to beat Uncle Ham by setting the table the fastest!”

Roman sent his brother a look, but Graham—who apparently was Uncle Ham to Hailey—just shrugged.

Somewhere in between Roman picking up all the utensils from the floor and Hailey rejoining her table-setting competition, Emersyn got up from her place next to August. She pulled a bottle of wine from the counter, as if she’d done it a hundred times in this house, and walked over to where I was trying to disappear into the wallpaper.

“It’s getting a bit crowded in here,” she muttered. “Wine?”

I nodded desperately. “That sounds amazing.”

Emersyn gave a sly smile. “Give me a second.”

I watched as she tugged a couple of wine glasses from the cabinet. She filled them carefully, and generously, before turning to Lark and whispering into her ear. Lark grinned, taking her mug of tea and following Emersyn to where I stood near the threshold of the kitchen.

“Let’s drink this in the sitting room, shall we?” Emersyn handed me a glass.

I hesitated, glancing at the back door that faced the security office. That had to be where Fox was. He should be coming in through that door soon, hopefully.

“Do you not like red?” Emersyn’s voice cut through my worry.

“Huh?”

Emersyn frowned at the dark-maroon liquid in my glass. “The wine? Would you rather have something lighter?”

“Oh.” I shook my head. “No, this is great. Thank you.”

This time, I followed the two women to the sitting room. A large fireplace with a stunning carved mantel and original tiles was the focal point of the room. It wasn’t lit, but I remembered how cozy it made the lovely Victorian room feel when it was.

Emersyn and Lark settled on the couch, and I perched on an armchair.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” Lark said, after taking a small sip of her tea. “I don’t know if you remember, but I used to tag along around here when Thea and I were kids.”

Lark had been Thea’s best friend. She was a grown woman now, but I still recall the girl she used to be. Back before everything changed for her, and everyone in this household.

“I remember,” I said softly. “You and Thea used to run around, getting in all sorts of trouble.”

She chuckled, but there was an ache in her eyes along with the happiness. “That’s what Thea was best at. I was just along for the ride.”

“I’m still sad I never got to know her,” Emersyn added, gently.

I took a sip of the wine, savoring it. I hadn’t had a lot of time to reflect on the loss of Thea since I had been back. But being in this house again, it was impossible to forget her. She was everywhere…in the photos, the art, the very spirit of the home.

And the absence of her was felt deeply, even now in that very full kitchen .

“I mean,” Emersyn continued after taking a drink of wine herself, “I’d met her in passing. She was my sister’s college roommate, but I never really knew her. Not like the both of you.”

My gaze shifted between the two women on the couch beside me.

They were connected by one of the most infamous tragedies this town had seen.

Two college girls were stabbed to death in their sleep all those years ago.

Thea, and Emersyn’s sister, Delainey. Though it had always been blamed on the Shadow Stalker, it had been a copycat.

My pointer finger on my free hand started to dig into the skin at the side of my thumb. It had started to heal, as I’d been around Fox so much and he found gentle ways to stop the habit.

Copycat .

The Shadow Stalker had been blamed for a crime he didn’t actually commit before. Could it be the same with Jane Doe? There were still so many questions that needed answering, but with my time splintered between the documentary and Jane Doe, there hadn’t been a lot of progress on the latter.

“Thea would’ve loved you,” Lark assured her with a grin. “Right, Skye?”

I forced my mind back to the moment, faking a smile. “Yes, of course.”

I doubted Thea Ramsey would feel the same about me, though.

If she were here tonight, I could only imagine what she’d want to do with me.

Thea might’ve been the youngest, and the only girl, but she had been fiercely protective of her brothers.

She wouldn’t have taken lightly to me leaving Fox the way I had.

I took another long drink of wine.

“Everything all right?” Lark looked at me with genuine compassion .