Page 64 of Chasing the Sun

And it was a damn good possibility that it had taken whatever fragile thing had been forming between Elodie and me too.

Elodie’s gaze lingered on Levi, the weight of everything unsaid hanging between them. She exhaled sharply, arms crossed over her chest, her body tense as if bracing against a storm.

“No,” she said finally, her voice quieter than I expected. Not soft, not forgiving, just empty—like the fire had burned up whatever she had left to give. “It’s not my place to press charges, but I doubt Stan will want to either.”

Relief flashed across Levi’s face, but it was short-lived. Elodie wasn’t looking at him anymore. She turned on her heel, her rubber boots crunching over the damp grass as she walked away. “I need to talk to Stan,” she said flatly as she headed in the direction of his house.

She needed space. Hell, I couldn’t blame her.

The guilt inside me twisted, gnawing at my ribs, but there was nothing I could do to fix this.

At least, not tonight.

Brody cleared his throat. “I’ll take Jamie home, talk to his parents, and file a report.” His gaze flicked to me, steady but edged with something else. A warning. “Levi’s lucky, you know. This could’ve ended a hell of a lot worse.”

I nodded, clenching my jaw. I fucking knew that. I’dbeen picturing the worst-case scenario since the moment I saw him standing in front of the fire.

Brody gave Levi a long, stern look, then nodded toward his cruiser, where Jamie was waiting. “Get him inside, Cal. He’s had enough for tonight.”

Levi didn’t argue. He didn’t even fight me on it. My distraught son just stood there, shoving his hands into his pockets as Brody walked off. We listened to the low murmur of Brody’s voice as he spoke to Jamie, watched as he opened the passenger door, and then they were gone, red and blue lights flashing in the distance before disappearing into the dark.

The night air was quiet now, save for the occasional hiss of steam as embers cooled beneath the weight of dampened wood.

I turned toward Levi. He wouldn’t meet my gaze.

“Let’s go,” I muttered.

We started toward the Drifted Spirit, the grass wet beneath our feet, the smell of smoke clinging to our clothes, our skin, our bones.

Neither of us spoke.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. He was staring straight ahead, shoulders hunched, his face unreadable, but I knew what he was feeling. It was the kind of shame that sat heavy in your gut, twisting until it felt like you might choke on it.

Maybe I should’ve said something then—reassured him that he wasn’t a bad kid, that he wasn’t ruined just because he’d fucked up. But I couldn’t. Not yet. Not when I was still utterly rattled by the thought of losing him.

As much as I wanted to truly believe that he was going to be okay, there was a part of me that couldn’t shake the fear that I was failing him.

The niggling thought that, somehow, staying in this town and merely pretending I was happy was making it worse.

Guilt washed over me. The only way I could see myself truly happy here would be to create something new, like the restaurant. Trouble was, that path meant I’d have to see the devastated look on Elodie’s face when it happened.

The ends always justify the means.

I bit back a frustrated growl.

I swallowed hard, forcing the words out before I could think better of them. “Maybe working at the farm isn’t a good idea.”

Levi’s head jerked toward me, his eyes wide and brimming with tears. He hesitated for a beat, then muttered, “I guess.”

NINETEEN

ELODIE

I really need my parents.

The early-morning light felt too bright, too indifferent to the wreckage left behind by the fire. Golden sunbeams stretched long across the fields, glinting off the lingering remnants of charred wood and blackened earth, highlighting just how much had been lost. The air still carried the acrid scent of smoke, mixing with the usual crispness of morning dew, and it made my stomach turn.

It wasn’t my farm, not really, but in many ways itfeltlike it was. Every inch of this land had woven itself into my skin and become as much a part of me as my own breath. And now, looking at the smoldering ruin where the barn used to stand, where Levi and his friends had nearly burned the whole place down, something inside me ached like it had been carved out with a dull knife.