Page 26 of Burning for the Truth

I laugh at the absurdity of whatever trivial fight she’s trying to start. I’ve long ago learned to deal with girls who found me a threat where Dean’s concerned. This is no different.Except it is,my mind whispers.You slept with him…you crossed a line you can’t uncross.

“You’re right. I have no interest in going to your house, Chelsea. In fact, I have no interest in the rest of this conversation. If you’ll kindly excuse me, so I can get in my car, I’d appreciate it,” I say without the hint of a smile.

Dean stands ramrod straight before moving to the side so I can open my door. Once I’m seated, he stops the door with his hand and leans in. “Don’t leave, Bree.” He wears a pleading expression, brows knit together, and it makes me pause.

“You know where I’ll be. You can catch up after you deal with your…friend.” He doesn’t smile and neither do I. There’s nothing funny about the situation we’ve found ourselves in. It was only last night I couldn’t stand to be near him because of the pain and memories associated with him. Now, not even twenty-four hours later, my heart is singing some completely different tune. One I should ignore. Nothing has changed, he’s still Dean Warren…a ladies’ man and the same boy who first broke my heart.

I shut my door and back out of my space, watching in my rearview as Chelsea continues to plead her case for why they should have dinner. He stares after me as I drive further away. I hit the button on my steering wheel and voice text Ivie I’m on my way to Valley B. Ivie is the one person who may be my only chance at finding middle ground with Sterling…and my common sense where Dean is concerned.

Sterling watches as I park, but he’s wise enough to stay at the barn with Tate. When I get out of my car, I stare at them both. Tate gives me a sympathetic smile as Hawk approaches them and gets his attention. Sterling holds my stare for another moment before dropping his brooding gaze to the ground, shaking his head.

I let out an audible sigh as I trudge up to my childhood front porch. I go inside without knocking and find Ivie in the kitchen adding frosting to a batch of cupcakes. “Hey. Thanks for agreeing to let me come over,” I start as I reach her.

“Bree, this will always be your home, you know that. So, I assume you want to talk from the look on your face and the mood my husband is in.” She glances up at me as she pauses to move to the next cupcake.

“Where’s Aria?” I ask before I start in on telling her about last night.

Ivie’s eyes light up with the mention of her daughter. “She’s taking a nap.” She motions to the baby monitor with her elbow on the counter and I spy my precious niece snoozing away the afternoon without a care in the world and my heart warms.

The front door opens again and Lucy walks in. “Hey, Bree. How are you, honey?” Lucy asks as she immediately pulls me in for a hug. Tears almost prick my eyes at her kindness, but I force them back.

I clear my throat before I speak again. “I think I messed up.”

Ivie and Lucy exchange glances. Lucy sits at the bar beside me as Ivie finishes frosting the last cupcake. She puts a few things in the sink and runs water over her hands to remove any stray sugary goodness before drying them on a towel and taking a seat across from me.

“Let’s break this down. Are you physically okay? I can’t believe you were attacked last night,” Lucy says as she places a hand on mine.

Renewed anger sparks as I think back on how he got the drop on me, and in a place that should be sacred…off-limits. I silently vow to be the one who brings this killer to justice. “I’m fine, I’m just mad I let him sneak up on me and get away.”

This time it’s Ivie who takes my other hand in hers. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It would’ve happened to anyone in your shoes. We’re all glad you weren’t hurt or worse.” She smiles sympathetically. “But what do you mean you think you messed up?”

I close my eyes and inhale deeply before I dive into what happened between Dean and I last night. “Sterling is hell-bent on making sure I basically have a bodyguard at all times, and because Chief Trudeau was there, he sided with Sterling. I’m grateful they want to watch out for me, but I’m a cop damnit! They see me as a weak, broken woman since Drew died.” I close my eyes to tamp down my rising anger. “Besides that, though, he insisted on Dean watching over me last night.”

“And that was a bad thing?” Ivie asks gently.

“Part of me feels strange telling you this since he was your first love once upon a time, but yeah, it was a bad thing for multiple reasons. One—up until last night when my brother all but forced me to come to his party by smothering me in guilt, I couldn’t stand to be near him because of all the memories he stirs up for me about Drew. It’s not his fault, but it’s the facts for me. Two—Dean was the first boy to ever break my heart. I thought he hung the moon growing up. I actually thought he saw me as more than his best friend’s little sister…that we shared something special. But it was terribly one-sided and the foolish notions of a teenager. He was in love with you, Ivie. Afterward, I boxed away any fascination I had with him. As we all learned later, he played the field quite a bit. When you left, he dated a lot and then he left, so who knows after that.”

“I understand how those things could be complicated, but where’s the mistake?” Lucy asks softly with furrowed brows.

“The mistake is I slept with him. Like a lovestruck teenager all over again, he made me lose all sense and rational thought. The only thought to enter my mind was I needed to feel. And he gave me that. I did what you warned me not to do, Ivie…I was reckless,” I say as a tear runs down my cheek. Ivie swipes it away with her thumb.

“Don’t feel awkward in telling me, Bree. Yes, Dean is my first love, but I’m happily married to the love of my life. In our lives, we have different loves. Some are meant to teach us lessons, but some are meant to stay. They’re the real deal. I want Dean to find the same kind of happiness I feel every day with your brother. There’s a real chance it could be with you. I don’t believe you made a mistake, Briella. I believe you followed your heart,” Ivie says with tears shimmering in her own eyes.

“But you warned me last night to not be reckless. And you meant with him. I know you did,” I tell her as more tears collect in my eyes. Lucy puts her arm around me.

“Briella, all I meant was, be careful. I care about his heart, and I care about yours. I don’t want to see two people I love very much, hurting each other. You carry your grief for Drew in your own way, but so does Dean. I’m afraid he isn’t as put together as you might think,” she admits.

Lucy adds, “I saw the way he stared at you last night, Briella. He longed to be near you. What if he needs you to save him as much as you might possibly need him to save you?” She pauses before adding, “Everything has a reason, and things that are meant to be, happen in their own time. You can’t rush fate.”

Ivie squeezes my hand. “She’s right. What’s meant to be will always find a way. When you were younger, the time wasn’t right. But what if it is now? What if you had to go through all this pain and be shaped by it before you were both who you were meant to be for each other?”

I shake my head at what they’re both trying to say. “There’s no way I’m meant to be with Dean. I don’t know if I’m meant to be with anyone. Maybe Drew was it for me. My heart still aches for him every day.” I choke back a sob.

The front door slams shut making us all jump. We were so engrossed in our conversation, we didn’t notice anyone had come in. Ivie runs toward it with worried eyes. She peers out and comes back to where Lucy and I sit with her lips pressed together. “Who was that?” I ask. “That’s the other thing I need to talk to you about. If it was Sterling, he basically walked in on me in bed with his best friend this morning. He’d never be okay with this. He’s always been protective of me, but now he’s smothering me. Tate isn’t as bad but he’s acting the same way.”

“Well, it wasn’t Sterling or Tate. It was Dean.” She smiles sadly. “He must’ve heard part of our conversation.”

I sigh and tip my head back so I’m staring at the ceiling. I brush the remaining tears off my face and dab at my eyes to remove any excess moisture, any external sign of weakness before going after Dean. “Let’s pretend you both might be right for a moment…Sterling can’t treat Dean, or anyone else I sleep with for that matter, like he did this morning. I get he and Tate are watching out for me, but I can’t have a glimmer of hope of moving on with my life if the men in my family are going to sabotage it out of some skewed sense they’re protecting me from getting hurt again. I know they want to, but it’s something they simply can’t do for me. Who I decide to let into what’s left of my heart is my business, if I ever decide to do it at all.” I push back my barstool and head to the door to find Dean.

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