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T he late-morning sun streamed through the kitchen window and fell across the oak table that Honor set all her packages on. Her trip to Main Street to the smaller hole-in-the-wall art supply store there had been far more lucrative than she expected. They had a surprisingly good stock.

With a sigh, she rubbed her cramped fingers and stood back to survey her shopping haul.

The breeze whipped through the door she’d left hanging open, swirling the long skirt around her calves. She hurried to shut it and then returned to her packages. The small art store in town had a surprising amount of basic supplies from silk thread to nylon for beading and even the string elastic she used sometimes for bracelets.

When she woke up that morning and checked her online orders, she was shocked at the number that had come in overnight. And pleased too. It had taken her years to build her online store to the point where it generated any income at all, when in the past she relied on what she made at festivals.

The house was quiet. A little too quiet with her sister away at the bookstore for the day. Honor took a moment to open a playlist on her phone for company while she worked.

Between the online orders she needed to pack and the stock she had to create for the festival that was coming up far too quickly, she had a ton to do today.

First, she removed all the items from the bags and spread them out on the table to take inventory. Earlier she’d hauled in a couple crates of her supplies and left them in the corner of the kitchen. She moved to grab them now, placing them on the table too. In no time, she had everything spread out in what Felicity would consider to be a chaotic mess, but to Honor, it was controlled chaos.

She ran a critical eye over the trays of beads. A bright rainbow of color filled her with excitement and made her fingers itch to get to work. But first, she needed to pack those orders.

She paused, zeroing in on the bag of red gemstones. Didn’t she have more than a few? Maybe she’d left a bag or two behind when she moved out. She was in such a hurry, it wouldn’t surprise her if she missed something.

With tunes floating through the air, she sang along as she located the items purchased and wrapped them with care before placing them in small boxes. The stack of labels she’d already printed sat at her elbow, and she stuck one to the cardboard.

The wreath of hand-drawn flowers and gems around the name of her shop—Twine and Trinket—made her proud every time she saw it. Smiling to herself, she continued to work until all the orders were filled.

She stood back to survey the stack of packages, her mind already leaping ahead and analyzing her inventory for the festival.

When her sister walked in, Honor was still poring over her notes.

“Hey, sis.” Felicity stopped in her tracks. “Looks like we’re eating dinner on the sofa tonight.”

She surveyed the items spread out not only across the kitchen table but the counters too. “Sorry about the mess. I’m analyzing my inventory for the festival in Ember Springs.”

Felicity let out a soft laugh. “Are you sure you need all this for one festival?”

Honor smiled at her sister’s amusement. “I do research my way, you do it your way. I’ve seen all those books stacked up on the floor around your desk.”

“I need to reference them for the book I’m writing.”

“And I need all this.” She swept a hand through the air, then stopped at what she spotted in Felicity’s hand. “Is that a plate of brownies ?”

“Yup.” She carried it over to the counter and shifted several trays of beads aside to set the plate down. “Mia baked them herself and thought you’d enjoy some.”

“I love those ladies in your shop. And I love small towns!”

Chuckling, Felicity removed the cling film from the plate and brought a brownie to where Honor sat at the table. While they munched on the delicious double fudge brownies, Honor skimmed over the list she’d made after the last festival. Any tension left from the prospect of Sully being in town had faded.

“Beaded earrings are always one of my top sellers. So are the bracelets with silver charms.” She pointed out the tray that held three solitary bracelets. “I have to get busy if I’m going to create enough stock for the festival.”

“You don’t have very long.”

She chewed her bottom lip. “I know. And my turquoise pieces totally sold out. So did the feather charms.”

“Looks like you have a lot of these left.” Felicity pointed to a container filled to the top with purple jasper bead bracelets.

She contemplated the jewelry and considered adding a pretty scripted sign to them and rebranding the item with a new name that appealed to customers. She quickly scribbled down several names she could use.

“What do you think of Whispering Heather bracelets?”

Felicity darted a look at the bracelets and then wrinkled her nose.

“Okay. How about Twilight Amulet?”

Her sister cocked her head. After a long moment, she nodded. “It has a more mystical ring to it.”

“Exactly. Okay, these are now Twilight Amulet bracelets.”

Her sister watched her for a while. “You’re really good at this, you know.”

She looked up, meeting Felicity’s gaze, touched by her praise. “That means a lot to me.”

“How is the storefront fund coming along?”

Her question made Honor slump a little. “I had to dip into it to buy the van. But I needed the van to camp in during festivals…and I intended to live in it after I left Sully. Otherwise, I’d be homeless.”

“You’ll never be homeless, Honor. You always have a place with me. How long will it take for you to build your fund back up? I know you’ve always dreamed of having a small shop of your own.”

She shrugged. “Depends on how the summer goes for sales. I have six festivals on my list so far. I’d like to book up the whole summer.”

Her sister picked up one of the Twilight Amulets and slipped it on her wrist above the wire-wrapped one with her birthstone charm. She rotated her arm, studying it. “These are really pretty.”

“Keep it. Maybe your customers in the bookstore will see it and ask where it came from.”

“Speaking of the bookstore, don’t forget you’re doing the jewelry-making workshop there tomorrow. Bring a few of your things to sell. I’ve got the perfect spot to showcase the items.”

Emotion flooded over Honor. She leaned across the table toward her sister. “Really? You’re the best sister I could ever ask for.”

Her sister patted her hand, beaming. “You know…there’s an open building down the street from the bookstore.”

“Which building?”

“The one with the peeling green paint on the front.”

“Oh.” Her mind sifted through her memories of the location she’d walked by earlier that day on her way to the art shop. “It’s a little rundown and in need of repairs.”

“Yes, but it has a lot of potential. There’s living space above it if you wanted to rent it out or live there yourself. And I’ve seen the back yard. It’s sheltered from the street.”

For a minute, she drowned in daydreams of how she’d fix up the building for her own little shop. A striped awning over the entrance. Inside, the walls would be white and the design minimal so the surroundings wouldn’t compete with her jewelry and let it shine.

She shook her head. “I can’t even buy that .”

“There’s no rush. That building has been empty all the years I’ve owned the bookstore. You have time to build your fund back up. Now about our dinner…”

Her sister got up from the table and began to bustle around the kitchen. Honor tried to focus once more on her notebook, but her head was filled with new and exciting prospects. Leaving her old life was the best decision she ever made. Because of her choice, she had so much opportunity ahead of her.

She grabbed her pen again and started making lists. She couldn’t wait to get started.

* * * * *

Over the past few months since Gray returned to the ranch, he’d grown to consider the Black Heart Security office to be controlled chaos. Never quiet, never entirely still. The low hum of a one-sided phone conversation came from the corner where his brother Oaks was lounging on the long leather sofa. Beside him sat a computer tablet, and occasionally he swiped a finger across the screen, taking notes.

This was the place Gray came whenever he needed to speak to one of his brothers. But he wasn’t sure it was where he belonged.

He sauntered across the small space and dropped into the chair across the desk from Carson. His oldest brother had summoned Gray here, but now he was involved in a phone call too.

Gray stretched out one leg, taking it all in. In a very short time, his brothers had built the company into a highly reputable one. Carson, Oaks and Colt were always coming and going, busy with providing protection to people from all walks of life.

Just last week Carson was acting as bodyguard to a high-profile person, while Oaks traveled throughout the state, protecting a construction team being targeted by protestors on the job, and Colt stayed behind to run the office. Whenever he wasn’t around, Willow answered the phones.

He caught Carson’s eye and cocked a brow in question.

His brother held up a finger for him to wait a minute.

It was impossible to ignore the snippets of conversation. Carson seemed to be getting grilled by his future wife about wedding plans.

“We can hold it on the ranch the way Oaks and Shiloh did,” he told her. A moment later, he picked up a pen and scribbled on a notepad. “Cake tasting Thursday one o’clock. Got it.”

He fixed Gray in his stare and gave a bored wag of his head. “Look, love. I have to go. Why don’t we go out to dinner and hash out the rest of the plans then?” Another beat passed. Then Carson said, “Prairie Ember. Can you make reservations or should I? Okay, sounds great. Yep. Love you.”

When he ended the call, Gray scrubbed a finger across his upper lip but not even that controlled his smile. “Love you,” he mocked.

Carson gave him a dark look though it was tinged with amusement. “I don’t need any crap from you, brother.”

He extended his other leg and crossed them at the ankles. “You summoned me. I’m here. What do you need?”

Carson’s expression grew unreadable. “You’ve been at the ranch a while.”

His brother was getting right to it.

“Yeah.”

“You spent all winter bouncing between ranch work and working on that novel of yours.”

“You keeping tabs?”

“We both know your talents go beyond both of those things.”

Gray shifted his jaw, lightly biting down on the inside of his cheek to keep from saying things he wanted to avoid. Like anything about why he’d left the military and flat-out refused to discuss the matter with any of his siblings.

Carson smirked but didn’t waver from his objective. “I’ve seen you putting in the work on the ranch, caring for animals and fixing things up during the winter months. It’s good work. But you seem a little…aimless.”

Sharp claws raked at the inside of his stomach. Aimless. That was one way to describe it. Fucked up was another.

“Look, Gray, I know you. You’re not happy picking up feed for the chickens every Wednesday afternoon or splitting wood from the tree that fell in the last storm. You need something more, something with purpose. Have you ever considered working security with us?”

He stiffened. “You mean beyond flying Colt around in the private jet to rescue his woman? Not really.”

Carson picked up a dossier on the desk. “We got a new contract coming in. Celebrities will be traveling to a local ranch for a reality TV show. We could use someone with your skills.”

“You’re making me an official member of the security team?”

“Maybe it’s time.”

He eyed his brother. “Am I a pity hire?”

His brother barked out a laugh that made Oaks look up from his tablet and pause in his phone conversation. “Hell no. I’d never insult you like that. You’ve got experience, Gray. Tactical knowledge we need. You’d be an asset.”

He considered the idea. It wasn’t a bad one. And Carson was right about it giving him a new purpose, a reason to get up every day and flex his mental muscles as well as his physical ones doing something he was naturally good at.

The ranch might keep his hands busy, but his mind still drifted places he did not want to go.

A bigger mission…a real purpose…was tempting.

Before he could respond, a muffled cry filtered through the closed door. All three of them stiffened. Without a word, Gray jumped up and strode to the door. Oaks and Carson launched to their feet at the familiar sound that had them both ready to use their fists.

He yanked open the door to reveal their sister passing by the office, a wad of tissues crushed against her nose.

Gray stepped up to the door. “Carson. Get your shovel.”

Oaks’s voice boomed from behind him. “Who do we have to kill?”

Willow stopped in her tracks, turning her tear-streaked face toward them. “You guys are ridiculous.”

Gray exchanged a look with Carson, then Oaks. “What happened?” He pitched his voice lower into the gentler tone he used with his sister.

She sniffled. “My ex is getting married.”

“Which ex?”

“Johnny.”

Gray snorted. “The douchebag?”

Carson elbowed him in the ribs, and he sobered as he focused on Willow’s distress.

“Getting married to who?” Gray asked.

“Not me!”

“Thank Christ,” Oaks muttered.

She shot him a scowl.

“Then he’s an idiot,” Gray told her.

Carson nodded in agreement.

Willow mopped the fresh tears flowing down her cheeks. “I wasn’t…the one !”

“Thank Christ,” Oaks mumbled again.

Gray watched Willow for a moment. Understanding spread through him—the feeling of being left behind in the dust. How many times had he felt the same over the course of the winter? While his brothers found love and entered into committed relationships, he had a spreadsheet full of the ghosts that haunted him day and night.

He stepped into the hallway and took Willow in his arms. Her height enabled her to rest her head on his shoulder, her shoulders heaving with emotion.

“It’s going to be all right, sis. Johnny was never the right guy for you. When the right guy crosses paths with you, you’ll know it.”

“How will I know?” she sniffled.

“We won’t want to kill him.”

A watery laugh burst from her, and suddenly the mood was lighter.

“See?” Carson clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re already the best negotiator in the family. Black Heart Security needs you.”

Willow jerked her head up and pierced Gray in her stare. “Are you joining the team?”

“I need some time to think.” He sliced a look at his brothers.

“Maybe we all need a new mission.” Willow straightened her shoulders.

He was starting to think Carson was right—he was wandering through life just getting by instead of truly living. He needed to move forward. This could be the first step.