Page 101 of Her Wild Coast Refuge

I wipe my eyes. “Kalle?”

“Whoever lit up that camp.”

“I don’t want Grams to worry,” I say.

“She’s tough, Lex. So are you. We’re going to get through this, okay? All of it.”

I nod into his chest, and he hugs me tighter.

“When this is over, I have something else to tell you,” I say. “It’s about Hayden.”

He kisses the top of my head, then steps back and gives me a soft smile. “Okay.”

A little while later, he returns with my statement transcribed from my interviews.

“Sign, and we can get you out of here,” Hunter says.

I comply, and Hunter takes the papers, then pulls me to my feet.

The tiny waiting area is packed with people, my family members plus what feels like half the town. Evan, Jared, and Grams plus Cooper and Sarah, plus Blake and Stacy from the lodge. I’m hugged and fussed over. I savor their kindness and promise that I really am fine, when a person standing near the corner of the room catches my eye.

I wriggle free of the crowd and break into a run.

ChapterTwenty-Six

DAWSON

Lexie hitsme like a freight train, and even though I’m bruised and sore, my wounds aching and raw inside the thick bandages, I grip her tight.

“Are you okay?” I ask. “They wouldn’t tell me anything.”

She starts to cry.

I close my eyes and cradle her in my arms. “What do you want to do, sweetheart? Are you tired? Hungry?”

“Stinky,” she says, and laughs through her tears.

My fragile heart trembles with hope. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but…”

She relaxes in my arms. “What’s going to happen with Soren Creek?”

“That’ll be up to you.”

She looks up. “What do you mean?”

“You own the claim.”

“No,” she says slowly.

“Well,” I add. “You will as soon as you sign the documents.”

Confusion clouds her eyes. “I don’t understand.”

I brush the hair back from her face. “I couldn’t sign that contract. Not after what I felt. Not after what I knew it would do to you, and your family.”

She starts to cry again. “But, Dawson…you won’t get what you want.”

“I have what I want right here.”

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