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Page 2 of Flare (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters #17)

But if Emily called off the engagement now, where would that leave her? Alone and unemployed, with no family to call her own.

Emily ’ s dad had been killed in a car crash when Emily was in kindergarten, and Andrew had literally proposed on Mom ’ s deathbed the week before Thanksgiving.

The thought of Andrew ’ s reaction if she tried to break up with him now sent an icy wave of panic through her body. No.

She ’ d make this work. She had to. Even if it meant surrendering more and more pieces of herself.

Emily swallowed hard and tried to convince herself that Andrew was right. Moving their reception to Grandma Katherine ’ s preferred venue would be for the best.

The Highland Hills Country Club would be beautiful. Elegant. Worthy of the Brunborn name that would soon be hers.

Then her phone chimed unexpectedly with an incoming text message.

When Emily glanced at the screen, a name she hadn ’ t seen in years made her breath catch: Maggie Swanson.

Her best friend from high school, the girl who ’ d once known Emily better than anyone.

The girl whose friendship had gradually faded after Emily and her mom moved away from Bearpaw Ridge after graduation.

Emily opened her texting app.

Maggie: Hey stranger! I know it ’ s been forever. We seriously need to catch up. You remember my cousin Eddie, right?

Maggie: Well, he ’ s heading to Spokane to see our other cousin Rob perform with Bearly Able to Sing this weekend. I thought you two might enjoy dinner together—no pressure, just friendly company.

After Emily had been accepted at WSU, she and her mom had moved to Spokane. Emily had spent all four years of college working evenings and weekends to pay for tuition and books.

Maggie had attended culinary school in Sun Valley before returning to Bearpaw Ridge and taking over management of her mom ’ s popular café-bakery.

Over the years, their daily texts had gradually become weekly, then monthly, until finally tapering to holiday and birthday greetings and occasional likes on social media posts.

And then there was the fact that Andrew and his grandmother both hated social media. They ’ d both forbidden Emily to post anything about her engagement or wedding plans, which meant she hadn ’ t posted anything at all since Mom ’ s death.

Emily had told herself that ’ s just how life worked—people grew apart. But seeing Maggie ’ s name now, she wondered if she ’ d let a good friend slip away too easily. She ’ d lost contact with so many people she ’ d known before coming to Spokane eight years ago…

And then there was Eddie Swanson. She hadn ’ t thought about Maggie ’ s cousin for a long time, but remembering him now made her smile.

Eddie had been a year behind her in school—quiet, kind, always with a sketchbook tucked under his arm.

Where his Swanson cousins were a boisterous crew, Eddie preferred sitting on the sidelines, observing with thoughtful hazel eyes.

He ’ d helped Emily with her geometry homework once, patiently explaining concepts until they clicked.

She remembered his hands—artist ’ s hands, steady and sure—as they drew diagrams to illustrate the problems.

There had been moments during senior year when Emily had caught him watching her in the hallway, his gaze dropping quickly whenever she looked his way.

Maggie had teased that her cousin had a crush on Emily, but Emily had been focused on college applications at the time and figuring out how to balance homework with her part-time job at the Wildcat Springs BBQ restaurant.

Looking back now, she wondered if she should have asked Eddie to prom instead of waiting for him to do it. In retrospect, as a junior, he was probably too shy to ask out a senior.

What ’ s he like now? Emily wondered.

She tried to picture an adult Eddie and found she couldn ’ t. The only image that came to mind was of a tall, skinny teenage boy with kind eyes and a gentle laugh.

Emily stared down at her phone and wondered: When was the last time I had coffee or dinner with someone other than Andrew or his family or his colleagues?

Sure, she was engaged now, but what would be the harm in catching up with Maggie ’ s cousin? They were old friends, after all.

And she needed a break from wedding planning consuming her life. Lately, she had spent all her free time worrying about how to meet Grandma Katherine ’ s standards.

She began typing a friendly response to Maggie, something about being happy to show Eddie around Spokane, when she heard Andrew ’ s home office door open and close upstairs.

“ Emily?” His voice preceded his heavy tread on the stairs. “ The Zoom meeting got canceled.”

“ I ’ m in here,” she called.

He appeared in the living room doorway, loosening his tie with one hand. His gaze immediately zeroed in on the phone in her hands.

His expression darkened.

“ Who ’ re you texting?” he demanded, crossing the room in four long strides.

The momentary bubble of warmth from Maggie ’ s message popped, leaving only the familiar anxiety in its wake. Emily ’ s stomach twisted. She knew Andrew wouldn ’ t like her answer.

“ An old friend from high school. Maggie Swanson,” Emily said. Her fingers clenched involuntarily around her phone.

Andrew extended his hand, palm up. Not a request—a command. “ Let me see.”

Emily hesitated only a fraction of a second. It was long enough for his expression to harden, but not long enough to qualify as defiance.

Andrew didn ’ t like it when she defied his requests .

She dropped the phone into his waiting palm. I have nothing to hide , she told herself.

It didn ’ t help the dread twisting through her chest.

The narrowing of Andrew ’ s eyes as he scanned Maggie ’ s text and Emily ’ s half-written reply told her everything she needed to know about what would come next.

She tensed.

“ Maggie Swanson?” Andrew asked, scowling. “ How do you know her?”

“ We were best friends in high school,” Emily explained quickly, trying to head off Andrew ’ s reaction. “ Her family owns a ranch and a bakery in Bearpaw Ridge. It ’ s been a few years since we really talked.”

Emily watched him warily, already knowing what he was going to ask next.

Her heart began hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. Her cheeks flushed with heat, and she knew she looked guilty as hell.

She recognized his expression—the one that transformed his handsome features into something cold and unreachable.

He looked like that when a male coworker hugged her at a charity event, when a male barista wrote “ have a great day!” with a smiley face on her coffee cup, when she acted too friendly to a male server or store clerk.

“ Eddie Swanson,” Andrew said slowly, each syllable dropping like a stone into still water. “ Who the fuck is he?” His blue eyes lifted from the screen, and Emily noticed they looked strange, like they ’ d been dusted with gold glitter.

It had to be a trick of the light.

“ Maggie ’ s cousin,” Emily protested, her words coming out breathless and rushed. “ Maggie doesn ’ t know I ’ m engaged. We haven ’ t talked in ages. And Eddie ’ s just an old friend from high school.”

The corner of Andrew ’ s mouth twitched downward. “ So, this Maggie person, who supposedly was your close friend, doesn ’ t even know you ’ re getting married? You never mentioned me to her?” His voice was heavy with sarcasm.

Emily ’ s gaze dropped to her hands, which had twisted themselves together in her lap. The enormous diamond on her finger caught the afternoon light from the floor-to-ceiling living room windows and sent beams of rainbow light over the ceiling and walls.

She remembered how excited Mom had been when Andrew had proposed to Emily in the hospital room.

When Mom died two days later, Emily had retreated into grief and then immersed herself in Andrew ’ s world. He ’ d been so attentive back then, so understanding. So sweet and thoughtful.

“ Things got complicated after Mom got sick,” she whispered. “ I guess I just…fell out of touch with everyone from back home.”

“ And now Maggie ’ s trying to set you up with her cousin,” Andrew said flatly.

Oh shit. He ’ s really pissed.

“ No, she ’ s not!” Emily protested, feeling sick. “ She ’ s just trying to be nice because Eddie ’ s coming to town for the weekend and won ’ t know anyone. She didn ’ t mean to—”

“ She ’ s trying to make trouble.” Andrew ’ s thumbs moved rapidly as he typed a response.

“ What are you doing?” she asked with growing alarm.

Andrew didn ’ t answer. He finished typing and turned the screen toward Emily so she could read his reply.

I ’ m too busy to meet with your cousin.

The dismissive coldness made Emily ’ s chest ache. She wished Andrew trusted her enough to send her own reply. She wouldn ’ t have sounded so… mean .

Then Andrew navigated to her contacts, found Maggie Swanson ’ s name, and hit Block.

“ There,” he said, handing the phone back to her. “ Your friend clearly has boundary issues And don’t even think about inviting her to the wedding… in fact, don’t contact her again.”

Emily stared down at her phone, her throat tightening. This isn ’ t right. His jealousy isn ’ t normal. If he loves me, then why doesn ’ t he trust me?

She opened her mouth, but the words stuck in her throat. Instead, she heard herself say, “ I ’ m sorry. I should have mentioned I was engaged right away.”

“ Yeah, you should ’ ve.” But Emily saw Andrew ’ s expression soften at her apology.

“ Look, I know it ’ s not your fault she tried to set you up with this Eddie person,” he continued in a gentler tone.

“ But you need to be more careful about who you associate with, Emily. You ’ re going to be a Brunborn soon. You need to act like one.”

Emily nodded.

Maybe Andrew was right. Maybe she didn ’ t understand how relationships worked in his world.

Her mom always said that rich people lived on a different planet than poor people.

Maybe leaving her history and old friends behind was the price of belonging to a family like the Brunborns.

And without them, she didn ’ t have any other family left.

“ You ’ re right. I ’ m sorry, Andrew,” she said, swallowing her pride. “ I should ’ ve thought about how it would look.”

Andrew bent down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. It felt a reward for proper behavior, the kind you used when training a pet. She forced herself not to pull away.

“ I just want everything to be perfect,” he said. “ You understand that, don ’ t you?”

“ Of course,” Emily replied automatically.

He straightened, checked his watch again. “ I need to leave for that walkthrough with the construction supervisor over at Silverwood. I ’ ll be back in time for dinner.”

Silverwood Estates was Andrew ’ s latest high-end real estate development project. As his executive assistant, Emily had attended endless planning commission meetings for rezoning issues, variances, and other issues.

Emily nodded, summoning a smile. As Andrew left the room, she looked down at her phone again.

The conversation with Maggie was still visible, but the contact was now blocked.

No more messages would come through. No more invitations. No more connections to the friendship they once shared.

She should delete the conversation. That was what Andrew would want—all traces of this interaction erased, as though it never happened.

But her thumb hovered over the screen, unable to complete the action. Instead, she scrolled up, rereading Maggie ’ s words.

A lump formed in Emily ’ s throat.

Before today, how long had it been since a message hadn ’ t been about wedding plans or Andrew ’ s family obligations or her work deadlines?

But I ’ ll be safe with Andrew. Once we ’ re married, I ’ ll be part of his family… even if Grandma Katherine doesn ’ t like me very much.