Chapter 2
Rowan slowed as the road curved, her grip tightening on the steering wheel when the familiar entrance came into view.
Refuge Cove. Yes, this was the entry she’d been looking for.
Refuge Cove wasn’t just a place to stay—it was a place to start over. Women came here when they had nowhere else to go, when leaving meant risking everything, including the animals they loved.
Sarah, Rowan’s oldest sister, had understood that better than most, and this place was built on that truth—in her memory. Here, no one had to choose between safety and leaving a pet behind.
The property was secure—gated, monitored, protected.
Rowan’s brother Caleb had walked away from everything he knew to build a place where women wouldn’t feel trapped the way Sarah had. A place where they could come in broken and leave with something that looked like a future.
The sign for Refuge Cove welcomed her—simple and well-kept, the lettering clean against the wood. A gated entrance blocked the drive, a keypad mounted beside it. Trees framed the approach, thicker than she remembered, offering privacy more than decoration.
She eased to a stop behind Wes as he approached the gate, her car idling as she took it all in, trying to reconcile the place in front of her with the knot of tension still lodged in her chest.
Relief flickered through her, but it didn’t settle. Not fully. Not with everything from the past few days pressing in on her.
Her gaze shifted in front of her to where Wes sat in his truck. He typed a code into the gate, and it opened.
The sight of him sent a different kind of tension through her, one she hadn’t been prepared for.
She hadn’t seen him in years. Not in real life, at least.
She’d caught glimpses of his life online once or twice, enough to know he was single and seemingly doing well for himself. But those moments had felt distant and contained.
This didn’t.
Having him so close felt immediate and disorienting, like stepping back into a part of her life she’d quietly closed off.
He’d always been steady, the rock that had grounded her.
But for a time in her life she hadn’t wanted to be grounded. She’d wanted to know what it felt like to fly.
The thought came uninvited, settling deeper than she expected.
Even people who wanted to fly liked having a safe place to come back to.
Wes had always been the person who’d shown up, who’d listened, who’d never made her feel like she had to be anything other than exactly who she was.
She’d picked her career over a relationship with him anyway.
And now here he was again, close enough that she could see the set of his shoulders through the windshield.
He had the same broad, steady build she remembered from those Friday nights under the stadium lights.
He handled his truck with easy control, one hand on the wheel, like nothing about this situation unsettled him.
Like nothing ever had.
She’d loved that about him at one time.
Rowan exhaled and passed through the open gate behind Wes. The afternoon sun filtered through mostly bare branches, the light cooler this time of year.
When she’d first moved to LA, she’d thought the weather was perfect. It was always in the seventies with a breeze. But she’d come to miss the different seasons.
She’d come to miss a lot of things, actually.
The property opened up ahead of her. The house came into view first—a sprawling modern farmhouse, complete with clean white siding trimmed in black. It even had a wide porch stretching across the front. The place looked even larger than she remembered, more finished. More . . . established.
A pond sat off to the left, its surface still and dark, reflecting the pale sky and the skeletal outlines of nearby trees.
To the right, a separate building stood back from the house—the kennel. Beyond it, farther toward the tree line, was a barn.
Everything appeared neat and thoughtful, beautiful in a way that felt deliberate rather than showy.
A dog barked in the distance then went quiet again.
A dog . . . she couldn’t wait to see the animals here. She’d always been a dog lover—probably more than anyone else in her family. But her schedule didn’t allow her to have a dog back in LA. It wouldn’t have been fair to the animal. But she’d never met a canine she didn’t like.
Rowan took a deep breath, trying to calm her nervous system. Her therapist told her that was very important.
You’re here. You’re safe.
She parked and forced herself to move. She grabbed her purse from the passenger seat and stepped out into the sunlight, the air cooler than she expected.
It carried with it the faint scent of pine and earth.
Memories of her childhood rushed back to her, but she couldn’t dive into them. Not now, at least.
Being here should feel like coming home. In a way, it did. But it also felt like stepping into something she wasn’t ready to face.
Loss. She didn’t want to remember all that was gone from her life.
Like Sarah. Especially Sarah.
Wasn’t that really why she’d avoided coming back for the past three years? It was much easier to stay away than it was to let herself feel, to let herself truly grieve.
The front door opened before she reached the porch.
Her other sister, Naomi, stepped out, her expression shifting from surprise to relief when their eyes met. “Rowan! Is that really you? I can’t believe you’re here!”
Warmth broke through Rowan’s tension just enough to soften the edges. “It’s good to see you.”
Naomi ran across the lawn and pulled her into a hug. Rowan stiffened for the briefest moment before she let herself relax into the embrace.
The contact grounded her in a way she hadn’t realized she needed. She’d felt so alone lately. So, so alone.
Naomi stepped back and studied her face. “You look beautiful, as always. But you also look exhausted.”
“It was a long drive.”
“I can’t believe you drove all the way across the country!”
Rowan shrugged. “Sometimes, a nice long road trip is good for the soul.”
“You always have liked your road trips.” Naomi glanced at the car behind her. “But a trip like that in an electric vehicle? That doesn’t sound fun.”
“It had its challenges, but I made it.”
“I can’t wait to call Mom and tell her you’re here! I know she’ll want to see you as soon as possible. Luke’s kids keep her busy, however.”
“I can’t wait to see Mom either.” Rowan knew her mom had helped take care of Luke’s three young children since his wife left him two years ago. Being a single dad and a business owner was a lot.
Footsteps sounded behind Naomi, quicker this time. Caleb stepped onto the porch—and stopped.
For a split second, he just looked at Rowan.
Then a grin broke across his face. “Well, look what the cat dragged in.”
Before Rowan could respond, he crossed the distance and pulled her into a hug, solid and familiar and a little tighter than she expected. “You’re really here. You finally decided to come home.”
Something in her chest loosened. “Don’t get used to it.”
He pulled back just enough to look at her. “Luke’s going to be disappointed he’s not here right now. Everyone knows he’s your favorite.”
Rowan huffed out a soft breath. “He’s only my favorite brother because you and Wyatt never passed up a chance to pick on me.”
Caleb’s smile softened. “Hey, it was all in love.”
For a second, the years fell away.
Then his gaze shifted past her, his expression sharpening at the figure behind her. “Wes?”
Wes’s posture eased again as he stepped around her. “Funny timing, huh?”
“I assure you, it’s a coincidence,” Caleb said.
Rowan turned to face Wes.
Up close, the differences in him were more obvious. He looked older, of course, but it was more than that. His steadiness felt deeper and more grounded than she remembered, like he’d settled into himself in a manner she hadn’t quite managed.
Or maybe she had. Maybe she just didn’t feel it right now.
“He’s helping us with our security here,” Caleb explained.
“That makes sense.” Though she was an actress, her voice didn’t sound entirely convincing even to her own ears.
Movement near Wes’s truck caught her attention. A dog stepped into view, tall and solid. A Doberman pinscher.
The animal stood close to Wes, alert but calm, watching the group with quiet focus.
“Well, hello there,” Rowan murmured, taking a step closer before she could stop herself. “Can I pet him?”
“Absolutely,” Wes said. “He only looks intimidating, but he’s a softy. This is Remington.”
She glanced back at him. “He looks like he could take down a small army.”
“Only if I ask him to.”
Something familiar in Wes’s tone tugged at her heart.
Rowan turned her attention back to the dog, reaching out slowly. He sniffed her hand then leaned into her touch.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Remington,” she murmured. “You’re so handsome. You know that?”
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
The sound cut through the moment, sharp enough to draw her attention. She froze before slipping the phone from her pocket. She needed to simply cut the device off.
The screen lit in her hand with a new message. She didn’t need to read it. She had no doubt it was another message from Vince.
She locked the screen and slid the device back into her pocket.
“You don’t need to get that?” Naomi nodded to Rowan’s phone.
“It can wait.” Rowan straightened, pulling herself back into the moment and forcing her attention forward. She glanced at Caleb and Wes. “It sounds like you two have a lot to go over. Don’t let me stop you. Naomi and I have some catching up to do.”
Everyone nodded.
But based on the way they looked at her, it was clear they all knew there was more to the story about why she’d returned home.
Wes lingered near his truck as Naomi and Rowan headed inside.
He told himself to focus on why he was here and not on Rowan.
That was easier said than done.
Refuge Cove needed his help finding any vulnerabilities that might pop up during their construction project. That was where Wes came in.
He was a former Marine turned US Marshal turned security specialist. His expertise was in assessing, securing, and training.
He often worked with large businesses and corporations.
But when Caleb, an old friend from high school, had asked him to come out to see Refuge Cove, he hadn’t been able to resist.
The ask had seemed simple.
Except nothing about the past twenty minutes felt simple.
Seeing Rowan again had shifted something inside him he hadn’t expected. He’d managed his heartbreak fine with distance. He’d had years of it. The occasional glimpses he’d had of her life online had been easy enough to ignore.
That version of Rowan had felt separate from his world—untouchable, even.
This version didn’t.
This version had stood in the middle of a narrow road, shaken and trying to hide it, her voice steady in a way that didn’t match her gaze. Yes, the confrontation with the neighbor had left her rattled. But there was more.
She’d come to Refuge Cove for a reason—and Wes suspected it wasn’t simply to catch up with her family.
Something was wrong.
Caleb’s gaze flicked toward the house before returning to Wes. “We didn’t know Rowan was coming home when we set up this appointment.”
“Noted.”
Caleb paused before saying, “I take it the two of you haven’t been in touch?”
“Not really. Not much, at least. Not since she left.”
The words felt understated, but Wes left them that way. What had happened between him and Rowan was between him and Rowan. He wasn’t the type to spill those details to others.
“She nearly ran into me on State Route 50,” Wes said instead. “She came off a side road without slowing. If I hadn’t swerved, we would’ve hit.”
Caleb’s focus sharpened. “Where was she coming from?”
“Some place a little farther down the road. Gravel drive off to the right.”
Caleb’s expression tightened. “That sounds like the Hendersons.”
Wes crossed his arms, not liking the change in Caleb’s tone. “What’s the situation with them?”
“They think this land should be theirs. They lost it years ago. Couldn’t pay the taxes.
” Caleb’s tone stayed even, but an edge crept underneath it.
“Sarah and Richard bought it fair and square. Sarah made sure the Hendersons kept a few acres—their land with the house, plus a little extra. She didn’t want them completely pushed out. Said that wouldn’t be right.”
Wes raised an eyebrow. “And let me guess—that wasn’t enough?”
“No.” Caleb’s jaw tightened. “It hasn’t been from the start.”
“What kind of things have they done?”
“At first, it was just little things.” He lifted a shoulder. “Complaints. Accusations. Saying we crossed lines we didn’t.”
“And then?”
“And then . . . then there were the fences that were tampered with along the back property line. Equipment that disappeared without a trace. Travis showing up in town when we’re there, too often to be coincidence.
We also found a wire snare near the fence line and shots have been fired from the woods more than once. ”
“I don’t like the sound of that . . .”
“To the Hendersons, none of this is harassment,” Caleb said. “It’s payback.”
Wes nodded as he stored away those details. This was all good to know—both personally and professionally speaking. That threat assessment was easy.
The Hendersons were trouble. And he didn’t like the fact that Rowan had already had a confrontation.
“Travis is the worst of everyone in the family,” Caleb added. “He doesn’t let things go. He thinks we took something from him, and he’s been looking for ways to get it back ever since.”
Wes’s gaze flicked toward the road. “From what I understand, he didn’t try to hurt your sister when she took that wrong turn. But he blocked her from leaving and kept her there longer than she wanted.”
Caleb’s jaw tightened. “That’s not okay.”
The words came out quiet, but there was no mistaking the weight behind them.
“I’d like to walk the property,” Wes said. “Check access points. See how things are set up now before construction begins.”
“Whatever you need. We want this place secure and for all our guests to be safe.”
Wes glanced at the house again.
Rowan was inside.
The timing of this didn’t feel random.
He didn’t look for meaning in every coincidence or try to force significance onto ordinary events. But he’d learned to pay attention when something didn’t sit right.
If this was coincidence, it was a strange one.
But if it wasn’t . . . if God had a hand in it, then there was a reason they were both here at the same time. A reason she’d come back now, not weeks from now or not at all. A reason Wes had taken this job when he’d passed on others.
Wes didn’t know what that reason was or what was coming next.
But he intended to pay attention.