“Going back to work now,” she said with an eye roll, and did just as Aidan had suggested—thought of him.

That night, back at her place, Lily found herself on edge. Did Aidan’s “later” mean tonight? She had no idea.

Normally her after-work routine consisted of a hot shower and PJs, but she stayed up late in her sundress, makeup still on. No need to scare the man unnecessarily.

But Aidan didn’t show, and this left her torn between relief and unease.

Unease won, and she called his mom. “I know it’s late,” Lily said quickly, “but I—”

“Oh, honey, I got the styling cream,” Char said. “Thank you so much for that. I should’ve called you, I’m sorry.”

“I’m not calling about that, I was wondering …” She grimaced. “Is everything okay?”

“Of course. My hair’s so much better than okay, it’s fantastic. Marcus can’t keep his fingers out of it—”

“I meant with Aidan,” Lily said. “He got called away today on a fire and he didn’t get back. At least, I don’t think he did.”

“No, you’re right, he’s still out. I got a text from Gray.” Char paused, softening her voice. “You should know he’s often out for days without a word. We just have to trust him, Lily. He’s the best at what he does.”

“I’m not— I mean, I don’t—” She blew out a breath. “It’s not what you think,” she said for the second time that day. And for the second time that day she got the same response.

“Are you sure?”

Chapter 21

The fire started out on a 10,000-acre horse ranch, which backed up to the base of Mt. Hennessy. This meant it threatened hundreds of thousands of acres of forestland if they couldn’t contain it quickly.

By noon the following day Aidan, Mitch, and the rest of the crew still didn’t have a handle on it thanks to an unseasonably hot day and forty-five-mile-an-hour winds. When the flames jumped the highway and started to climb the mountain, they called in reinforcements.

Aidan ran into Hudson at the incident command post. They’d arrested the arsonist, who was currently cooling her heels in county on a million-dollar bail.

Which isn’t what Hudson wanted to discuss. Nope, he wanted to discuss their dad. Perfect. Just what Aidan wanted to do.

“He called Gray,” Hud said, pissed. “He couldn’t even bother to call me. What the hell?”

“Told you, we don’t need him.”

Hudson stared at him. “Is that what you told Gray when me and Jacob appeared in Cedar Ridge? That you didn’t need us?”

“How is that anything close to the same thing?” Aidan asked.

“You’re all about family unless it doesn’t suit you. Hypocrite much?”