I turned off onto a smaller road that read: Private. God, I was really out in the middle of nowhere. If you had told my fifteen-year-old self that this was where I would end up, I would’ve said that you were crazy. I’d thought I would make my home in a city, getting lost in the swarm of people and endless energy.

But that was before. Now, I craved the peace of Sutter Lake. When I first smelled the air here, I’d felt clean for the first time in years. And, even now, when old demons threatened to take hold, I would take in a lungful of that air. It always helped me fight them back.

I slowed my hatchback as I muttered a curse. The gate in front of me was almost artistic, its rustic beauty melding with the landscape. But it was imposing, too. No one would get through it or over it without the owner of the property knowing.

I sank my teeth into my bottom lip as I rolled down my window. The little speaker box seemed to taunt me. I took a deep breath, hoping the air I loved would give me the strength I needed for the next step. I pressed the button.

I heard a whirring sound as the camera adjusted its direction, followed by a buzz. The gates slowly opened. I guessed that was my answer. I slowly took my foot off the brake and switched it to the accelerator.

Aspen trees with low lights at their bases lined the long drive. It created a glow. Just enough to guide someone’s path but not so much that it distracted from the stars overhead. I followed the curving drive until a house came into view.

House was the wrong word. Mansion? But that wasn’t right either. Because as large as the home was, it fit with the property in the same way the gate did. As if whoever had designed it wanted the structure to feel like it had simply sprung from the earth around it.

But when it had, it had created something massive. I didn’t even want to think about how many bedrooms the home contained. And I really didn’t want to think about how much the thing had cost. This was the kind of money that came from more than a cushy job. This was wealth.

I suddenly regretted my decision. Maybe I could just turn around and head home. Just as I was considering making a break for the gate, the front door opened. A tall figure with broad shoulders appeared, backlit from the glow inside.