Chapter 29
The urge to run after Ivy, haul her close, burned through Ryder like a lit flare.
But Sarah yanked open the passenger door and slid into the truck, bringing a blast of glacial air with her.
He waved a hand. “Yeah, just leave the door open. It’s only twenty below.”
She slammed the door hard enough to rattle the frame. “Yeah. It’s freezing out there.” She stripped off her gloves and tucked them into her duty belt. “I don’t have long. Shift starts in twenty.”
Ryder suppressed a sigh. Ellie stood on his thighs, little hands locked on the wheel. “Voom voom!”
“Long enough for what?” This wasn’t going to be a casual chat. This was an interrogation. Sarah watched Ellie drive for a second, something soft flashing across her face before it vanished. “Long enough for you to tell me what’s happening with Ivy.”
He looked away immediately, focusing on Ellie clutching the wheel instead of his sister’s too-perceptive gaze.
“Voom, Daddy!” Ellie bounced, knees flexing.
Sarah waited—occupational hazard of being a cop. She could out-wait anyone.
“Nothing’s happening.” He shot her a toothy smile.
Sarah snorted. “Right. And I’m the Queen of England.”
“Pretty sure that’s Ivy’s job.”
“Don’t be cute. You’re terrible at it. Always were.” She cocked her head, studying him. “You went after her last night. Didn’t come back. She hasn’t seen her brother this morning. You two…?”
Ryder shifted Ellie slightly, buying himself a second to formulate an answer that wouldn’t sound like complete bullshit. “It’s complicated.”
“Uncomplicate it.”
“You think everything’s that simple?” he snapped back. He exhaled, the fog on the windows thickening as if sealing them off from the world outside. “Sorry. I don’t know what it is yet. But it’s not nothing. And it’s not temporary.”
“Does she know that?”
“Probably. Maybe.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Hell, Sarah, I don’t know. A lot’s happened fast.”
Sarah leaned back, arms crossed. “And the part where she lives in another country? Talked about that yet?”
His arm circled Ellie’s middle, feeling her small chest expand with each breath. “Not yet.”
“Why not?”
Because talking about it made it real. Made it something he couldn’t just keep pretending about.
“Because then she might say it’s impossible.” His head dropped forward.
Sarah’s expression softened for half a beat. “Jesus, Ryder. After Miranda’s crap, I just want you happy. But you’ve got Ellie to think about.”
“Like I don’t know that?” His voice broke sharp. “Ellie always comes first.”
“I know.” Sarah nodded, but she wasn’t backing down. “But if Ivy’s going back to England, and this is just a holiday thing for her—”
“It’s not.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I see the way she looks at Ellie. At both of us.” He’d seen it. Ivy’s expression as she’d climbed out of his truck, like she was standing outside a warm house in the cold, pressing her face to the window. “Like she wants in so bad it scares her.”
That bought him five seconds of silence. Snow started falling again, fat flakes clinging to the windshield before melting into streaks.
“So, what are you gonna do?”
“What can I do? Ask her to ditch her life? Her family? Move here?”
“Or you move there.”
He blinked. “My life’s here. With Ellie.”
“And Ivy’s isn’t.” Sarah shrugged. “Somebody’s got to bend, or you’ll both break.”
The truth of it hit low and ugly—like a bruise that hadn’t surfaced yet—one more thing he’d shoved to the back of his head and tried not to think about.
“Tantie, voom voom!” Ellie yanked the wheel dramatically, her whole body twisting with the effort.
Sarah’s face transformed. “I know, sweetie. Best driver in Alaska.”
Ellie beamed at the praise, then looked up at Ryder with those eyes that were so much like his own. “Daddy, Eye-vee?”
Shit.
Sarah caught his glance over Ellie’s head. “She had to go talk to her brother, sweetheart.”
Ellie’s face went solemn. “Marsha-mallow. Eye-vee.”
“Yeah, baby.” Ryder forced lightness into his voice. “She’s having hot chocolate and marshmallows with her brother.”
Sarah checked her watch and blew out a breath.
“Okay. Shift time.” She pulled her gloves back on, each finger deliberate and slow.
Hand on the door handle, she paused. “I’m saying this as your big sister, not as your sheriff.
If you love her, Ryder, say it. Don’t let her get on that plane without knowing. ”
“And if she still chooses England?”
“Then at least you tried. But if you keep your mouth shut?” She pinned him with her big sister stare. “You’ll whine about it for the next decade, and I’m not listening to that. So just tell her.”
She pushed at the door, letting in another rush of frigid air. “Oh, and little brother?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t let your fear talk you out of something good again. You’ve done enough of that for one lifetime.”
He grabbed a Kleenex from the dash, balled it and tossed it at her. “Copy that.”
She smirked and hopped out, but before she could close the door, her radio crackled. Sarah paused, one boot still on the running board, and unhooked the radio. “Sheriff Meyer.”
Her posture straightened instantly — the teasing sister gone, the sheriff in her place.
“You’re certain? Deliberate cuts?” Her face went hard as she looked back at Ryder. “Don’t let anyone touch it. I’m on my way.”
She ended the call and stood there for a second, hand still on the door. When she looked back at him, her expression had changed—cop face stripped down to raw concern. She clipped the radio back onto her belt. “It’s Ivy’s rental. The wrecked one.”
Ryder’s pulse slammed high, instincts hitting before the fear had time to form words.
“What about it?”
Her hesitation was too long. A sharp pang sliced his gut.
“Brake lines were cut. Sabotage.”