She’d come at the urging of her parents after a tumultuous breakup. Rather than having her head turned by one of the eligible bachelors in attendance as they’d hoped, she’d homed in on him. He’d not been introduced to her parents that night, but from getting to know them later, Gabe had no doubt of the looks they’d exchanged when Claire told them she was getting her own ride home.

She’d only been out of college a few months and had still been living with them. He’d parked in the circular drive in front of the remarkable home in a part of the county where he’d never been and figured ten or more of his parents’ house would fit inside.

“It’s just a house,” she’d said, seeing the direction of his gaze and picking up on the quiet that swept over him. “Just a facade. The only real thing is the little bubble of space right around you. It’s the only thing that matters.”

He’d been thinking about kissing her but had decided when he pulled up that he was better off just letting her get out and forgetting her. A voice inside him—probably his father’s—made it clear that a girl like her would have a vision for her life that didn’t include him. Then she’d said that bit about the bubble and thrown him off. He asked her what she meant, and instead of answering, she leaned over the seat of his truck and brushed her lips against his. “You have a nice face, Gabe Wentworth. And really good lips.” She gave him her number and waggled her pinkie in front of him till he locked his finger with hers and promised he’d give her a call.

The next two years were work and Claire and dating and an engagement. Then he headed into a beast of a fire and nearly lost his life and found Samson in one fell swoop. And when he couldn’t pick himself up—when he couldn’t be the man who walked into fires again—Claire walked away.

Even stepping cautiously through the water as he was, Gabe kicked a rock protruding from the ground, and just that slightest bit of variation in stride had the torrent of water threatening to topple him. He got his balance, stepped carefully around the rock, and pressed on along the uneven ground.

Claire’s walking away hadn’t only been because of him. By then the phase that had led her onto a path of mindfulness and minimalist living was over, and she wanted a bigger life than he’d be able to give her.