Summer knelt down and placed a bouquet of yellow roses in front of her brother’s headstone. It was his birthday. He would have been forty-two, and she missed him as acutely as she had when he first died.

Sometimes she’d come here and find an American flag stuck in the dirt, or a rock carefully placed on the headstone, making her wonder who had been here before her. There were no rocks on the headstone today, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Edward was slowly being forgotten.

She swiped at her leaky eyes. To say the past three months had been difficult was an understatement of epic proportions. She’d stood by while Daniels Aerospace closed its doors and her father was brought up on formal charges in a civil suit launched by Walsh’s daughter. While she was not crazy as her brother had been, she was very aggressive in her assault against Summer’s father, and rightfully so.

Summer had been blind for so long, holding her father high on a pedestal from which he could never fall. He was everything she aspired to be, beyond reproach, and she’d done herself one hell of a disservice by believing those things.

The thought conjured an image of Luke, a memory she was trying desperately to forget. In the light of day, she understood his inability to be with her, but in the night, she twisted her hips against the cold cotton sheets and missed the man who’d made her soul sing.

A warm wind blew lightly through the headstones and she tucked her hair behind her ear. It was so quiet here, the silence amplifying how alone she really was in this world, but she wasn’t afraid or saddened by that anymore. On the contrary, these last couple of months had taught her she was stronger than she ever knew, able to handle herself and whatever difficult situation life might throw her way.

She hadn’t known that before. She’d thought she was weak, needing her father and the memory of her brother to help her stand tall—hell, even Luke. Now she was standing tall all on her own, even if she felt the loss of them with each beat of her heart.

“I’m going to move down south,” she said to the gravestone, her eyes tracing the letters of his name. “Florida, or maybe Georgia. I need to see the sunshine. Live for myself for a change. I already have a job offer in Atlanta just from a resume and a phone interview, but I’m not sure if I’m going to take it. I’ve never even been there.”

She reached down to the grass, touching the fresh green blades with gentle fingers. Everything was new again, Mother Nature putting the cold and damp behind her and pushing forth with new life. “Maybe that’s the point,” she whispered.

In the distance, a dog and his owner walked along a ridge, making her think of Zeke. Perhaps when she got where she was going she would adopt a dog. A big, ugly dog who loved the hell out of her and slept in the middle of her bed.

She smiled. She was going to be okay, no matter where she landed. She closed her eyes. “Life is short.” She blew out air. “I guess you know that better than anyone.”

A dog barked and she turned to see a German shepherd bounding toward her. She scrambled hurriedly to her feet.

What should you do if you’re attacked by a dog?

The dog whimpered a moment before he jumped onto her, tackling her to the ground and covering her face with kisses. “Zeke?” Terror turned to happiness as she petted and hugged the dog. “I know, boy. I didn’t think I’d see you again!”

If Zeke was here, Luke was, too.

She fought the onslaught of butterflies in her stomach and raised her chin to the horizon. Sure enough, his familiar silhouette walking toward her, outlined by the afternoon sun behind him.

Her heart squeezed tightly as she absently petted the dog. “Does he miss me?” she asked quietly.

The dog whimpered again.

God, I hope he does.

Luke carried a duffel bag and when he reached her, he smiled from one side of his mouth. “I thought we might find you here today.”

“It’s his birthday.”

“I know.” Luke sat on the grass beside her, the sun on his face, painting it gold. “How’ve you been?” he asked.

“Busy. A lot going on with my father. The company. Lawyers.”

“Sounds hard.”

She nodded. “It’s just about over now.”

“I heard the company closed.”

“More than half our work over the years was based on the information my father pirated from Walsh.”

“I’m sorry. What are you going to do now?”

She turned her head so the breeze hit her full-on, face-first. “I’m going to go to Atlanta.”

I guess that’s decided, then.

“When?”

“Soon.”

He nodded. His irises were illuminated by the sun, its rays highlighting their deep brown color. This was how she would remember him, sitting on the new grass, the sun shining on his skin and eyes.

Beautiful.

“I’m glad I got to know you, Luke.”

“Me, too.”

“I appreciate everything you did for me.” He opened his mouth to speak but she reached for his arm, stopping him. “And I forgive you for what happened to my brother.”

He frowned, dropping his head. When it came back up, his eyes were bloodshot. “Thank you.”

She nodded, a weight she hadn’t realized she’d been carrying sliding off her shoulders and seeping deep into the ground. It was time to let it go. Time for new beginnings. She pushed to her feet. “I’ve got to get going. I’ve been here a long time.”

“Summer…” He stood, picking up the duffel bag and handing it to her. “It’s a present for you.”

“For me?”

“Yeah. It just…seemed right. I think it’s what Edward would want.”

She furrowed her brow. The bag was heavier than she expected, though not terribly so. She unzipped it, finding a Ziploc bag of dog food and the bulletproof K9 vest. Her mouth dropped open.

He tucked his hands in his pockets. “He probably doesn’t need the vest, but he looks pretty badass in it, and he likes to show off at the park in front of the other dogs, so—”

She pushed words past the tightness in her throat. “You’re giving me Zeke?”

“If you want him, yes.”

He was giving her his dog, an animal so closely bonded to him she doubted either one of them could survive a week without the other, simply because it seemed like the right thing to do.

She covered her mouth, crying now. This was who Luke was. A good man with a profound sense of right and wrong, honor and duty. She’d once made fun of him for calling himself a hero, but she saw now it was true—a hero was exactly what he was.

She held out the duffel bag. “I can’t take your dog.”

He didn’t move. “He loves you.”

“I love him, too.” She lifted the bag higher, and he took it. It was a bag full of dog food, so why did she feel like she was losing so much more? She turned away from those intense eyes.

Zeke lay on the ground above Edward’s body, his head between his paws. “Oh, my gosh, look at him.”

“He always does that. It’s like he knows.”

“Maybe he does.”

Luke moved to the headstone and put an egg-sized rock on top.

He always does that.

This wasn’t the first time Luke had been to the grave. “That’s you,” she said, cocking her head to the side. “The rocks.”

“That’s me.”

“And the flags?”

“Yeah.”

She hugged him. She hadn’t planned it, she just did. Her face pressed into the soft fleece of his sweatshirt and his arms came around her. He kissed the top of her head. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“I’ll be here if you change your mind.”

She pulled back, looking into those deep brown eyes. “What do you mean?”

He ran a finger down her cheek, his throat working. “Zeke isn’t the only one who loves you.”

Her eyes went wide.

He kissed her forehead and let her go. “And if you’re really set on Atlanta, HERO Force has an office there, too. It doesn’t have to mean we can’t be together. Take care, Summer.”

“You, too.” She was stunned, standing completely still as he and the dog walked away. She couldn’t have been more shocked if a meteor flew out of the sky and crash-landed in a nearby tree, and she stayed that way, watching them until they disappeared over the horizon.