Chapter 33
Elyna
The loft was quiet except for the hum of the baby monitor and the soft whir of the heater.
Braden was finally asleep, sprawled in his crib like a tiny starfish, his hair damp from his bath and his favorite blanket half-kicked down to his knees.
I sat on the futon, legs tucked beneath me, a folded pile of his clothes beside me: tiny jeans, flannel onesies, his tiny socks.
Outside, the orchard was silvered with fog, the moon faint behind a veil of clouds.
The cameras Phoenix installed glowed faintly along the deck, their blinking lights oddly reassuring.
I checked the live feed on my phone out of habit.
Everything looked calm. For the first time in weeks, I felt like I could breathe.
Phoenix was still downstairs in the brewery, finishing an equipment check with Dominic.
I’d offered to help, but he told me to rest. He was protective in that quiet, unyielding way, never overbearing, but always aware.
I was about to start folding another shirt when my phone buzzed across the coffee table.
Unknown Number.
My chest tightened. For a moment, I couldn’t move. After the messages, every alert still made my heart stutter. I almost ignored it but something in me said answer.
“Hello?”
A pause. Then, a familiar voice. “Elyna?”
I blinked. “Harmony?”
A soft laugh, though it sounded strained. “Yeah. Long time, huh?”
“Too long,” I said, exhaling a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
“The last time I messaged you. . .”
“Was to tell me about Riley cheating,” I finished her sentence.
“I felt terrible,” she admitted.
“You were being a good friend,” I assured her.
“How is your baby? You have a boy now, right?” she inquired.
“Yes, Braden, he just turned one. Time flies.” I sighed.
“It sure does,” she replied. I wondered why she called, but I didn’t want to be rude and ask outright.
“I had to dig through old messages to find your number and came across that old message,” she explained. I heard the empathy in her voice. “Sorry for the surprise call, it’s just… weird times.”
I sank deeper into the futon, which I had folded in half like a couch. “Yeah,” I said carefully. “Weird seems to be the theme lately.”
She hesitated then. “I heard you’re back in Val-Du-Lys.”
“Word travels fast,” I said with a small smile. “Yeah. Me and my son. I’m trying to build something steady.”
“I’m glad.” Her tone softened. “You always said that place was home, even when you swore you’d never move back.”
“I was a teenager with a chip on her shoulder. Now I’m a mom with a baby to care for. Have to make responsible decisions,” I said. “How are you? You still in Montreal?”
“I am,” she said, but the lightness in her voice was gone now. “And that’s kind of why I called.”
Something cold settled in my stomach. “What’s going on?”
Harmony sighed. “There’ve been guys hanging around my apartment building the last few nights. Two of them, maybe three. Big. They’re not subtle either. They asked my landlord about tenants. Then they mentioned my dad.”
“Marcel?”
“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Apparently, they know who he is. I caught one of them outside the flower shop across the street yesterday, pretending to look at bouquets. I’m not stupid, Elyna.
They weren’t there for flowers. I just don’t know what they could want with me.
I haven’t been in touch with my dad since I left Val-Du-Lys after high school. ”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “What did they say?”
“They claimed they’re looking for ‘opportunities.’ That’s code for something. I don’t know what yet.” She took a shaky breath. “Then my dad called out of nowhere. First time since I left home. He suggested I come home for a while. Said it was time.”
My pulse spiked. “Did you tell him about the men?”
“Not yet, but he sounded… nervous. Which is new. My dad doesn’t do nervous. He does control.”
Her voice trembled just slightly, and I could almost picture her sitting on her apartment floor, barefoot, chewing her thumbnail the way she used to before exams.
“Phoenix’s brother, Becket, said there are some people from Montreal poking around here,” I said carefully. “Maybe it’s connected.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Harmony murmured. “Montreal’s been tense lately. A few guys went missing. Debt collectors, loan sharks, gamblers. People who thought they were untouchable.”
“You mean Riley,” I said. That’s why she was reaching out.
“Word on the street is no one has seen him in weeks,” she said.
“Yeah, he’s been causing me grief as usual,” I sighed. I swallowed hard. “Do you think your dad is involved?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking the question.
“I don’t know but Nico messaged,” she said.
“As in Nico Mercier?” I had a lump grow in my throat when I said that name. He was Harmony’s ex, who went to work for her father. We all hung out together in high school, even though Harmony was a sophomore when I was a senior.
“Yes,” she said, and I heard the fear in her tone. Nico was a criminal. “He said my father is laying low and so should I, which scares me more than anything. He’s been in this game too long to flinch. But if he’s worried, it means someone big is making moves.”
Outside, the wind shifted through the orchard, whispering against the siding. Braden stirred in his crib, a soft sigh through the monitor.
“You could come here too,” I said before I could think better of it. “Stay for a few days. Get out of the city.”
Harmony gave a soft laugh, the kind that wasn’t funny. “You think Val-Du-Lys wants a Bellerose back? I couldn’t even walk into the diner without someone whispering about my last name.”
“That was high school. People change,” I said but I didn’t believe my own words as I thought of Papa.
Her silence said she didn’t believe it either.
“I appreciate the offer,” she said after a beat. “Really. But I’ll be fine. I’ve got locks. Cameras. And a friend who works nights at the precinct down the block.”
“Just promise me you’ll keep me updated.”
“I will.” A pause. “Hey, Elyna?”
“Yeah?”
“You were one of the few people who never treated me like I was my father’s daughter. I never forgot that.”
My throat went tight. “Right back at you. You were the only one who didn’t treat me like the girl who ruined everything.”
A quiet, shared breath. Two women bound by small-town ghosts.
“Take care of yourself,” she said. “And that little boy of yours. You deserve peace.”
Before I could respond, the line went dead.
I stared at the screen for a long time, my reflection faint against the glass. Then I typed a message to Phoenix.
Me: Harmony just called. Thugs in Montreal are asking questions about Marcel. She’s scared. Says Nico messaged her and said Marcel is laying low. Her dad also reached out, and they’ve been estranged a long time. He suggested it was time for her to come home.
He responded almost instantly.
Phoenix: On my way up.
Within a minute, Phoenix appeared smelling faintly of hops and cedar. His shirt was damp from the chill outside, sleeves rolled up. He looked like every ounce of safety I’d ever needed.
“What happened?” he asked, voice low.
I told him everything about Harmony’s call, the suspicious men outside her apartment, her dad’s warning to come home and Nico’s message about Marcel lying low.
Phoenix’s jaw worked as he listened. “Becket needs to know.”
He grabbed his phone and started firing off a text. The reply came a few seconds later as a voice message.
We’ve heard rumors of the same guys. Montreal crew looking for leverage. Harmony might be their pressure point. Stay alert.
Phoenix exhaled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Damn it. This just keeps spreading.”
“Do you think they’ll come here?” I asked quietly.
He shook his head, but not fast enough to convince me. “They’re still testing boundaries. Looking for weaknesses. They’re not going to find any here.”
His words were steel, but I could hear the tension underneath. He sank onto the futon beside me, arm coming around my shoulders. I leaned into him, the warmth of his body grounding me.
“She said Marcel told her to come home,” I murmured. “You think he’s really worried, or just trying to keep his own mess contained?”
“Both,” Phoenix said. “Bellerose has always been about control. If he’s calling his daughter home, it’s because he’s losing some of it.”
I nodded slowly. “She won’t come back. She said she’s done with this place.”
He gave a small, humorless smile. “Yeah, I said that once too, when I started travelling, but the minute my family needed me, I was back here in a heartbeat and never left.” I rested my head on his shoulder, staring at the soft glow from Braden’s monitor.
“You’re a good man, Phoenix Thorne.”
The orchard lights flickered through the window, steady and familiar. For a moment, everything was still and it almost felt peaceful.
Then Phoenix’s phone buzzed again.
Becket: Two unknowns spotted near Route 12. Plates have Montreal addresses. Passing word to patrol.
Phoenix typed back a curt acknowledgment and set the phone face down.
“You sure you want to be here through this?” he asked me.
I didn’t hesitate. “This is my home now.”
He nodded once and kissed my temple, then whispered, “Then I’ll make damn sure it stays safe.”
We sat in silence, listening to the night stretch long around us. Braden sighed again, half-asleep, half-dreaming. I thought of Harmony alone in her Montreal apartment, lights on, curtains drawn, pretending she wasn’t afraid.
She’d once told me, some people are born into storms, but that doesn’t mean they have to live in them forever. I just hoped she believed that now. Because whatever was coming, whatever shadows were creeping from Montreal to Val-Du-Lys, wasn’t done with any of us yet.