Finn stared at himself in the bathroom mirror.

“You think more is the answer? What are you, a glutton for punishment? You’re not in high school anymore, for fuck’s sake. You know better.”

He did know better.

But he still put on just a tiny bit more aftershave.

Finn couldn’t help but laugh at himself, glad none of his friends were around to see him as he got ready to go out with Charlie. He didn’t even want to think about what his new nickname would be become. Forget Eagle. They would change it to Axe or Bod.

“Dad, come on.” Ethan banged on the bathroom door. “Quit messing around. We’re going to be late.”

Finn opened the door and look down at his son. “Might I remind you, little dude, that I had to drag you away from playing with Jess and Sky? If you didn’t want us to be late, you probably should’ve taken that into consideration.”

Ethan still spent all his free time with the little girl. But maybe continuing to gain confidence with his reading would help. Make him feel more at ease with kids his age. Until then, Finn wasn’t going to fight him on it. One battle at a time.

“But I’m not the one in the bathroom now, painting my nails and curling my hair.” Ethan grinned up at him.

Finn rolled his eyes and flicked his son gently on the forehead. God, there had been a time when he’d never thought they would get to this point, where they could laugh and joke. When he’d first gotten custody, the kid had been so silent and withdrawn Finn had been afraid he was permanently damaged. Now he was saying stuff that was perfectly sarcastic and funny.

“Yeah.” Finn put on his best falsetto. “But do I look pretty?”

Ethan cackled out loud and Finn hauled him in for a hug. He was taking the boy into the Frontier for lunch before his tutoring appointment. Then Grandma would be picking him up for another sleepover—a last hurrah before school started next week.

And a chance to take Charlie to dinner, where they were going to talk and not have sex.

Or, hopefully, talk and then have sex.

She had to work tonight, he knew, and he’d have her back in time to get there. Might even find himself hanging out at The Silver Palace and escorting a certain bartender home. To his bed or hers, he wasn’t particular.

But first they had to talk about what was happening between them. They didn’t have to figure everything out. Hell, they didn’t have to figure anything out, but things couldn’t go on the way they had been.

Charlie thought he detested her for marrying Kempsley, that whatever was happening between the two of them was some sort of revenge sex for her leaving Finn eight years ago. It had taken him a while to realize what that wary look in her eyes meant—she was preparing for an emotional blow. From him. For him to cut her loose and tell her he was finished.

Or that he planned to keep any sort of relationship with her hidden from everyone else. He’d seen her near panic when Mia had caught them kissing.

She expected him to tell her that she meant nothing to him. That he was just using her for sordid, raunchy sex, but that all he felt for her beyond that was loathing.

And maybe at one point that would’ve been true. But not now. Life was too short to hold on to grudges. The Army had taught him that. Too many deaths, too many good men and women gone without warning, when they thought they had so much time left.

Life held no guarantees.

Charlie had married Kempsley for his money. Maybe that made her selfish and self-serving. But it wasn’t an unforgivable sin. God forbid everybody be judged the rest of their lives for the decisions they made in their early twenties.

So that was the talk he wanted to have with her. That maybe he wasn’t exactly sure what the future was going to look like, but he didn’t want to keep staring at the past.

Forgiveness was a tricky thing. It wasn’t like a switch you flipped, and bam, one day someone just decided to forgive someone else. It was a constant process. Every time a situation presented itself where his instinct was to lash out at Charlie or let the bitterness build up, he would have to choose to let it go, choose to forgive until, finally, it stopped popping up so often. And maybe some day not at all.

It was conditioning. Special Forces had taught him the importance of it, physically and mentally. And it applied now.

So, no more lunch quickies where he couldn’t keep his hands and mouth off her. At least not today. Not until they talked, and she understood that he didn’t already have one foot out the door. He wasn’t going anywhere.

But tomorrow? Tomorrow and every day after their conversation was fair game for any sort of quickie he could talk her into.

He and Ethan chatted all the way into town. Ethan was still in a deep debate over which Lego kit he wanted. He was also excited about the new codes he’d come up with for the much longer chapter book he and Charlie were working on. It was a shit ton of memorization, all these different symbols for words, but Ethan didn’t mind. Memorization of codes was something he understood and could conquer.

They pulled up at the Frontier, Ethan yelling out his order to Trey and Wavy as they walked in the door, before sitting down to talk to Trey. Finn took a seat at the bar too.

“What are you grinning about, big bro?” Wavy asked as she got him some water. “Please don’t tell me I have babysitting duty again while you go, ahem, gallivanting around town.”

“No, actually, I’m planning to take Charlie on a very proper date tonight. And Mom has already agreed to watch the rugrat.”

“People are going to talk, you know that, right? I mean, they sort of already are, since Mia saw you two a few days ago.”

Finn just lifted a hand, palm up. “Since when do people not gossip in Oak Creek?”

Wavy rubbed at an eyebrow. “Nobody wants to see her hurt you again, that’s all. Nobody really trusts her, and I’m not sure you should either.”

He was about to argue the point with his sister and explain that Charlie wasn’t the bad guy in this situation when Sheriff Nelson walked through the door. Finn turned to greet him like everyone else. Instead of the wave he’d expected in return, the sheriff moved directly toward him.

The look in the older man’s eyes had Finn’s blood turning cold.

“Got a moment I can talk to you outside, Finn?” The sheriff’s words did not reassure him in any way.

He looked at Wavy.

“I’ve got Ethan,” she whispered.

He followed the sheriff outside. “What’s going on?”

Sheriff Nelson took his hat off and rubbed a hand over his dark, shaved head. “I’ve heard you’re friendly again with Charlotte Devereux.”

“She’s tutoring Ethan. And yeah, we’re sort of seeing each other, I guess. Why?”

“Do you have any contact info for her family? I know the Devereuxes sold their business and house and moved years ago, but no one seems to know where they are presently.”

This did not sound good. “Why, Sheriff?”

“There was a fire at Charlotte’s condo early this morning. In the paperwork the condo office had, you were listed as her emergency contact. I didn’t think that sounded right, but . . .”

“I might have been once, but I can’t believe she’d still have me listed. She said her dad is in some sort of medical facility in Denver, but I’m not sure where. Is Charlie okay? Is she in the hospital? I need to go to her right away.” He was already turning toward his Jeep. They could figure out where her parents were later.

“Son.” The sheriff put his hand on Finn’s shoulder to stop him. “By the time the firefighters got there, the blaze was out of control. There was one casualty. Female. I’m sorry.”

Finn felt like all the oxygen had been sucked out of the entire planet. This could not be happening. “Ch-Charlie?”

“The body was burned pretty extensively, so an immediate positive ID wasn’t possible. But it’s her name listed on the unit paperwork. Unless you know somewhere else she’s moved to?”

Sheriff Nelson’s voice sounded a million miles away. “No. Nowhere else. That’s Charlie’s place.”