Chapter 33
Harmony
Pierre’s truck smelled like cedar and old leather, the kind of scent that should’ve been comforting, but tonight it only made my pulse thrum harder.
The engine rumbled beneath me as I turned out of Main Street, headlights cutting through the early evening fog rolling off the river.
I’d stayed late at Petals and Pines helping Sandy prep flowers for tomorrow’s wedding.
I told Eric I’d be home by six. It was almost seven now.
I wasn’t trying to break the rules we set to keep me safe.
I just… needed the normalcy, even if normal felt like a thin costume stretched over panic.
I checked my mirrors out of habit. Once. Twice. Then again, slower.
A pair of headlights hovered three car lengths back.
Not unusual on a weekday. But when I turned onto the quieter road that led toward the Thorne property, where the sidewalks thinned and the houses spaced out, the car stayed with me.
No one ever followed down this road unless they lived on it. My throat tightened.
“Okay,” I whispered to myself. “Okay. People drive. Cars exist. You’re not paranoid. You’re prepared.”
I adjusted my grip on the wheel. The navy Ford felt heavier and larger than the car I used to drive.
It was safe, even if the size wasn’t calming my nerves.
I made the next turn. They made it too. My stomach felt like it was going to drop out from under me.
They stayed close. Not tailgating. Just…
holding the same distance. Like they wanted me to know they could see me, or maybe get to me.
I forced myself to look forward again. Don’t look scared.
Don’t swerve. Don’t tip your hand. That’s what Marcel used to say to Olivier when teaching us to drive.
The memory cut like glass. I inhaled slow, steady breaths.
I wasn’t going to break. Not now. My phone was in my coat pocket, out of reach unless I lifted my hand from the wheel.
I couldn’t risk fumbling for it with a truck this wide on a narrow road with curving ditches.
The next streetlight washed over the vehicle behind me.
It was dark and low to the ground with tinted windows.
A sedan. My vision tunneled for a second as the memory of the car outside the community center flickered like a broken slide reel.
“Think,” I told myself. “You know how to do this.”
I waited until the next small bend in the road, where it widened slightly, and eased my foot off the gas, letting the truck slow by just a few kilometers.
If they passed, I’d know. If they didn’t.
. . The headlights behind me dimmed for half a second, like the driver tapped the brakes too, keeping pace.
A cold ripple went down my back. I reached for my phone.
My fingers brushed the fabric of my coat as my heart hammered inside me.
The screen lit before I even unlocked it with Eric’s name glowing.
I exhaled a shaky, desperate breath and answered.
“Sunshine?” His voice came sharp. Alert. “You okay? You’re late.”
I reached for my phone, but when I glanced back at the mirror, the sedan suddenly lurched forward as if the driver had realized I’d spotted them. My pulse spiked.
“I’m being followed,” I whispered, the words barely forming.
Eric swore so loudly I flinched. “Where are you? Harmony, where?”
“The road past the river turnoff, near the old mill path.”
“I’m already coming. Get to the house. Do not stop. Do you hear me?” His voice was panicked.
A thousand responses swirled in my mind, fear, relief, shame for calling too late. All I managed was, “Okay.”
I hung up and pressed the accelerator. The truck climbed speed slower than a car would’ve, but it moved steadily, heavy and loud. Behind me, the sedan’s headlights flickered.
And then. . . They turned off. Not away. Just… off. The car disappeared into the road like it was swallowed by darkness that stretched behind me like a mouth.
“Shit,” I breathed.
That was deliberate. A Jeep or pickup would’ve thrown more light from other angles. This vehicle disappeared entirely.
I kept driving faster now because I needed to get back to Maple Valley. The entrance came into view, the large sign, the soft glow of lights from the brewery, the neat rows of apple trees fading into dusk.
Home.
Safety.
Or as close to safety as existed anymore.
I drove straight up the long gravel driveway toward the main house. The porch light tumbled over Pierre’s front steps, just as another set of headlights appeared coming the opposite direction.
Eric’s truck.
He braked hard and was out of the driver’s side before I’d even fully parked, sprinting toward me, face tight with fear he didn’t bother hiding. I opened the door on shaky legs.
He caught me instantly with hands on my arms, my waist, my face, like he needed to touch every part of me to confirm I was whole.
“Harmony, geez. Why didn’t you call sooner?”
“I. . .I didn’t want to panic. I wasn’t sure until…” My breath wobbled. “They followed me five kilometers then turned off a dirt road and cut their lights.”
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Where?”
I pointed back toward the road. “Near the mill turnoff.”
Eric froze. His eyes sharpened but not with certainty, more like recognition of something he didn’t want to name.
“Sunshine…” He swallowed once, carefully. “That stretch of road… people used it when they didn’t want to be seen.”
My breath hitched. “People like who?”
He didn’t answer immediately. His jaw worked once. Twice. Not denial. Not confirmation. Just a quiet war behind his eyes.
“Could be anyone,” he finally said. “Your father’s people used it. The Trust used it sometimes. Nico used to take that back way too.”
A beat.
“And Olivier… he knew those turnoffs better than most.”
A cold shiver slid through me. “So you think—”
“I think,” he cut in gently, but firmly, “this is bigger than one name. And we’re not jumping to conclusions.”
He pulled me in, arms tight, voice low and rough against my hair. Pierre stepped out onto the porch; his expression carved from stone. Eric didn’t look at him. His focus stayed locked on me; hands steady on my waist like he could anchor me in place.
His voice dropped to a low, unshakable vow.“Whoever this was… they just crossed a line.”
The cold from the road seeped into my bones, deeper than the night air. Tonight wasn’t an accident. It was a message. Whoever was hunting me had finally stepped out of the shadows.