Chapter 40
Forty
Caroline
The days after the fire passed in a blur.
I spent hours on the phone—insurance, police, contractors. Everyone spoke in numbers and technicalities, but none of it sounded real. To me, it was just ashes.
Noah was everywhere and nowhere. Sometimes he’d be gone for hours, then come back, arms full of groceries or a new plant for the greenhouse. He never asked how I was feeling. He just made sure I ate, made sure I slept, made sure I never had to be alone unless I wanted to.
Some nights, I lay awake, replaying the fire in my mind. I wondered if it was my fault for daring to want more. If maybe the universe punished you for trying to rebuild after losing everything.
One evening, I found Noah in the library, poring over floor plans and spreadsheets with two of his men.
He looked up, smiled, and said, “Just figuring out some logistics.”
I took it at face value.
But the next morning, a truck pulled up with new kitchen equipment. Then a team of contractors arrived to “survey” the remains of the old bakery, but really, they were measuring and mapping.
I asked Noah about it, and he just said, “Let me handle it.”
It made me nervous, but also…curious.
What I didn’t see was the stream of calls between Noah and his architects. Or the back-channel negotiations to buy a building on the best street in the neighborhood. Or the money that changed hands to get permits pushed through overnight.
Noah wanted the whole thing done before he told me.
He wanted to see me believe again.
A week after the fire, I sat in the garden, watching the sun set behind the lemon trees.
Noah came out, sat beside me, and took my hand.
“Would you do it again?” he asked.
I thought for a long time. “I don’t know. I’m scared.”
He kissed my knuckles. “It’s okay to be scared.”
I squeezed his hand. “But yes. I’d do it again.”
He smiled, eyes bright. “Good. Because I’ve got a surprise for you.”
I didn’t know what it was, but for the first time in ages, I felt hope stir inside me.
Maybe that was all it took.
Someone who believed, even when you didn’t.
Someone who’d fight for your dream, even when you’d stopped fighting.
Someone who made you feel like it was okay to try again.
I didn’t know what tomorrow would look like.
But with Noah, I was starting to want to find out.