Sean

Cameron wrinkled his nose, as I hoisted my suitcase into the bed of the truck.

“Where’s the Range Rover?” he asked, peering through the window without moving from his spot.

“Anna’s got it.” I shook my head, impatient. “Dude, you asked me for a ride. Carry your ass back to the tour bus and call a cab. I’m leaving.”

Cameron mulled it over while I scowled. And, yeah, I might have apologized. To the truck.

Reluctantly he threw his bag into the bed next to mine.

“What about your Porsche?” he asked as he slid onto the worn bench seat. “You’re telling me you’d rather drive this than a Turbo Carrera?” Looking around skeptically like he might pick up a flesh-eating virus, Cameron clasped his hands in his lap.

I did prefer the Porsche for some things. I could make the drive from Austin to Waco in about an hour.

But Willow loved the old pickup. Maybe it was the bumpy ride or her mother’s heel prints on the dash or the smell of peaches, but the kid considered it a personal affront if I drove anything else.

“Dude, you’ve got no room to talk.” I snickered. “That piece of shit you used to drive was much worse than this.”

Grunting, Cameron pointed the air vents at his face. “Used to is right.”

Once the air conditioning cranked up and we were on the freeway, Cameron’s mood improved.

“So, you’re here for the summer?” he asked. “No more trips to Waco?”

I nodded, smiling.

Three months of boat rides, picnics by the shore and skinny-dipping with Anna at Hippy Hollow. Or as I liked to think of it—heaven. Not that I minded Waco. I’d even gotten used to the sickening green splashed over every square inch of the little town. But it wasn’t Austin.

A small smile lifted Cameron’s lips. “Who knows? Maybe you can convince Anna to stay.”

I shook my head. My convincing days were over. I was lucky if I got to choose the pizza toppings at my house.

“Nah, she’s gotta finish school.”

At Baylor.

A little of the old guilt crept in, but I pushed it away before it took hold.

Lily was digging groceries out of the back of her SUV when we pulled into the gate at Cameron’s place.

“See you, dude,” he said, his foot out the door before I’d rolled to a stop.

Grabbing his suitcase, he headed straight for Lily, and she was off the ground before I put the truck in reverse. She managed to wave at me as he carried her toward the house.

I pulled out my phone and then tapped a text to Anna.

Be there in fifteen. You naked?

Anna replied about the time I was crossing the red bridge spanning the Colorado River.

Hardly. We’re in the meadow. See you soon. Love you.

She loved me. Still. Always. It never got old though, hearing it. Reading it.

I kneaded the muscles in my thigh, determined not to let the ache keep me from showing Anna how mutual the feeling was. The mini-tours Caged was doing once a month took a toll on my body. Six back-to-back performances in seven days with little rest between shows. But I wasn’t complaining.

Anna’s eyes met mine as I coasted to a stop in the driveway. A smile curved her mouth when the chaos ensued.

“Daaadddy!” Willow shrieked, her fiery curls bouncing like little springs as she tore across the grass.

Betty, the little Bichon puppy that Logan had given Willow for her birthday, beat her to the fence, yapping like a maniac and scratching at the wood posts.

I stepped inside the gate and into the fray.

“Pick me up, Da!” Willow demanded, arms outstretched.

Though I FaceTimed with her every single night when I was away, the small changes in Willow’s appearance from week-to-week floored me. Scared me, really. I wanted to slow the clock. Keep her small enough to scoop into my arms.

Willow squealed when I did just that. “Daaaddy!”

“Have you grown?” Tossing her over my shoulder, I jiggled her around. “You have grown.”

I sauntered toward the sexy redhead on the swing, prisms of light dancing from the stone around her neck. Anna had refused to wear anything but the emerald to mark our engagement so the two-karat diamond was now a pendant. Willow slid off my back as I crouched to kiss her mother.

“You taste good,” I said, rising to my feet before my sore knees locked. “How was the drive?”

“Good.” Anna smiled. “Long.”

“Look, Da!”

My attention snapped to Willow as she gripped the rope on the smaller, identical swing on the other side of the tree.

Anna grabbed my arm. “Let her go, babe. She just wants to show you.”

I waited until Willow righted herself on the seat before following Anna to the blanket. Dropping onto my ass, I kept one eye on my daughter. “Not too high, Willow-baby.”

Anna squeezed my hand, shifting her focus to the pit of soft sand beneath Willow’s swing. “She’s fine. You brought the whole shore up here. There’s enough dirt to cushion the fall.”

Willow’s halo of auburn curls whipped her face as she climbed to dizzying heights. Dizzying for me, at least.

“If she has to fall,” I said, squinting at my little girl through the dwindling sunlight. “I want her to have a soft place to land.”

Anna straddled my lap, blocking my view. “You didn’t put any dirt under my swing.” She wiggled her hips. “Does that mean I don’t need a soft place to land?”

Molding my hand to the curve of her waist, I held her in place. “I’d rather give you a hard place to land.”

“Promises, promises.” Anna rolled off me and reclined on her elbows, her face tilted toward the sun. “Did Logan have any luck?”

Picking a few blades from the lush carpet of St. Augustine grass, I blew out a breath. “Nope.”

Her eyes bored into the side of my head. “How’s he taking it?”

I shrugged. “You know Logan, he says it’s all good. But he got drunk as fuck last night and had a threesome in his hotel room if that tells you anything.”

Six months ago, I would’ve left that detail out. But I’d slowly come to realize that once we were back on solid ground, Anna didn’t worry about other women.

“I don’t know if that has anything to do with Laurel,” she said. “That sounds like a typical Saturday in Logan Land.”

The women, yes. But not the booze. Whenever the private investigator unearthed a new lead about his sister, Logan set up a gig in a nearby city so he could check it out. Every dead end left him worse for wear.

Shaking off the morose mood, I tucked Anna to my side. “Anything on your finals?”

“I haven’t checked.”

I looked down my nose at her. The girl was a fanatic about checking her grades. She used to do it religiously when . . .

When it mattered. When she was at UT.

Anna fingered the pink bracelet on my left wrist, a smile curving her lips.

“Don’t be making fun of my bracelet, woman,” I warned. “I get enough grief from the guys.”

Any father worth his salt would tell you—your baby girl makes you a pastel bracelet, you wear the fucking thing with pride. Even if you got teased about it. Relentlessly.

As the sun dipped below the tree line, Anna hiked her skirt up to soak up the final rays. “I wasn’t smiling about that. I got some news today.”

Tearing my gaze from her bronze thighs when Willow plopped into my lap, I asked, “What news?”

My daughter snatched the official-looking envelope Anna offered.

“Give me that, squirt.”

My smile faded as I glanced at the UT Law seal on the front.

I met Anna’s gaze, and she nodded, eager. “Read it.”

As I unfolded the thick parchment, my heart leapt into my throat.

Dear Ms. Dresden:

We are pleased to inform you that your application for admittance to the University of Texas School of Law has been approved.

I blinked, rereading the letter. Twice. “How . . . ?”

Anna’s cheeks flamed as she sucked her lip between her teeth. “Chase talked to some big wigs on the alumni board and got them to review my transcripts and LSAT scores.” She frowned. “But I met all the requirements, so I didn’t take anybody’s spot or anything.”

Cameron’s brother never ceased to amaze me. He was the largest land developer in Austin, owned two music venues, but still found time to look out for us. All of us.

The heavy weight of guilt I’d been carrying over Anna’s education diminished somewhat as I fingered the envelope. “You deserve this, Anna-baby. You’ve worked so hard. It’s what you’ve always wanted.”

She snuggled against me, her eyes drifting to Willow and Betty running circles around the tree.

“This is what I’ve always wanted. You and me in a little house by the lake.” Cutting her gaze to the McMansion, she smirked. “I guess you can’t have everything, right?”

She was wrong. So wrong. Because I did.

I eased her onto the grass, and the branches of the willow tree reflected in her eyes along with the first star in the evening sky. A world painted in emerald green.

“You want everything? I’ll give it to you. Anything.”

Fingers coiling into my hair, Anna smiled. “I already have everything.”

Grunting when Willow jumped on my back, I propped up on my elbows to keep from crushing Anna entirely. “I love you,” I said, sweeping a tendril of hair from her brow.

Another smile. “I love you more.”

That wasn’t possible, but I didn’t tell her. Because we had love to spare. And music. A never-ending symphony.

A faint ringtone roused me, echoing off the walls in the loft. Indistinct. Generic. I pulled the blanket to my chin.

Go away …

“Phone, babe,” Beckett grumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow.

Groaning, I patted the nightstand, searching for the source of my annoyance. When I came up empty, I cracked one eye open and spotted my jeans next to the bed, my phone hanging out of the back pocket.

Teetering on the edge of the mattress, I snatched up the device and issued a groggy “Hello.”

“May I speak to Taryn Ayers?”

The woman’s voice, all business, filtered through the hum of conversation in the background.

As I settled against the pillows, the room spun from too much wine at dinner and too much Beckett for dessert. “This is she.”

Beckett draped an arm around my waist, his thumb skimming my ribs. Smiling, I rolled over and brushed a thick lock of hair from his face. His lips quirked but he didn’t move.

“Miss Ayers, this is the Travis County Sheriff’s department dispatch calling.”

The thick fog of sleep receded, leaving me fully awake. “Who?”

“Miss Ayers … I’m a dispatcher with the Travis County Sheriff’s Department.”

Slowly, I rose to my elbow. “Yeah … okay. What is it?”

Beckett’s lids fluttered open and his cobalt eyes found mine.

“Miss Ayers, we got your name from Preferred Motor Coach. There’s been an accident outside Fredericksburg involving a tour bus. Your name was listed as the point of contact.”

Disentangling myself from the sheet, I sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed, my legs dangling over the side. “I’m sorry … an accident? What kind of accident?”

“A semi-truck crossed the median and hit the bus at a high rate of speed. The survi … the injured parties are being transported to Brackenridge Hospital via Care Flight.”

Beckett’s fingers brushed the base of my spine. “What is it, babe?”

When I didn’t answer, his footfalls sounded on the hardwood. And then he was in front of me, moonlight from the floor to ceiling window framing his broad shoulders and illuminating the tips of his dark locks.

He needs a haircut.

Shifting my attention back to the faceless woman on the other end of the line, I cleared my throat. “But everyone’s all right, though?”

After an eternity, she started to speak, but I couldn’t process what she said. Everything after “I’m sorry” faded to white noise. And then, like a crash of thunder, her last words exploded in my head.

“… Officers on the scene reported two survivors and three fatalities at the crash site.”

In front of me, Beckett crouched, his lips moving soundlessly as a tiny fissure formed in my chest. And then something shattered deep inside and the phone slipped from my numb fingers.

Beckett scooped up the device and began to speak, but I couldn’t hear anything other than the four-word refrain echoing in my head.

Two survivors … three fatalities.

Beckett cupped my cheek. “Taryn …baby …”

“Hmmm?”

When I didn’t look up, he slid his fingers into my hair and gently tipped my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. “Baby … you’ve got to get dressed now.”

Tears rolled down his cheeks, and I tracked a tiny rivulet with my finger. “Why?”

Catching my hand, the crease in his brow deepened. “Why … I don’t …” Clumsy fingers circled my biceps. “Here … let me help you.”

Wobbling to my feet, I yanked free from his hold. “Why?”

Beckett scrubbed a hand over his face. “Babe, I don’t know why.” He snagged my jeans from the floor and shoved them at me. “Please, just get dressed. We have to go to the hospital.”

Two survivors and three fatalities.

A calm washed over me. Sweet relief. “It’s a mistake.”

“Taryn—”

“Listen to me!” Clutching his arm, my nails sank deep into his skin. “Don’t you see? Rhenn, Tori, Paige, and Miles.” Holding up a finger for every name I ticked off, I wiggled my digits. “That’s four. It’s a mistake.”

Beckett crushed me to his chest. “Babe, it’s not a mistake. We have to go now. Please.”

Confused, I peered up at him, the placid smile wobbling on my lips. “But I just told you …”

Taking my face between his palms, he rested his forehead against mine, anchoring us together. “Taryn, listen to me. There were five people on the bus. You didn’t count the driver.”