Page 42 of Saving it with My Best Friend's Brother

I offered Amelia my arm, loving how naturally she fit beside me. We’d barely made it to my car when Claire came running out, something in her expression making my stomach drop.

“Wait!” She thrust a folder into Amelia’s hands. “This just came by courier. You need to see it.”

Inside was a single photo, dated that afternoon, Wheeler’s wife leaving Crystal Ridge’s offices. But it was the document in her hand that caught my attention. The Pine Haven logo was visible, the red stamp across it unmistakable.

“Are those the festival permits?” Amelia’s voice shook slightly, her earlier happiness vanishing.

“Must be,” Claire said. “They’re up to something.”

I should have canceled our date and stayed to figure out what Wheeler was planning. It was the smart move, the safe move. But looking at Amelia, seeing the mix of worry and disappointment in her eyes, I made a different choice.

“No.” I took the folder and handed it back to Claire. “Whatever they’re planning can wait two hours. Tonight is about us.”

“Hunter—” Amelia started.

“Please.” I took her hands in mine, feeling them tremble. “Let me give you one perfect evening. Just us, no threats, no Crystal Ridge, no Wheeler. Just dinner and maybe a walk in the moonlight?”

Her expression softened. “That sounds wonderful.”

“You two are ridiculous,” Claire said, but she was smiling as she took the folder. “Go. I’ll dig into this and brief you later.”

I couldn’t help stealing glances at Amelia as we drove into town. The sunset caught her hair as she gazed out the window, and for a moment, she looked like the girl from our high school debate club—before threats and corporate takeovers complicated everything. She caught me looking and smiled.

“What?”

“Just thinking how lucky I am. Despite everything, having you here, getting to take you to dinner... I wouldn’t change it.”

She reached over, lacing her fingers with mine. “Me neither.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Then Amelia’s. Then again. And again.

She pulled hers out, face turning ashen as she read the screen. “Hunter...”

A message from another anonymous number with a photo—Wheeler’s wife leaving Crystal Ridge, but now we could see what was on the permits she held.

A demolition order for Pine Haven dated tomorrow.

The final message read:Enjoy your date night, lovebirds. It might be the last one you get at Pine Haven.

Chapter Eleven

Amelia

Our perfect date night became a crisis meeting in Pine Haven’s conference room. The demolition order on the mahogany table seemed to mock me, its official letterhead gleaming under the harsh fluorescent lights. My hands trembled as I traced the embossed seal, while Hunter’s measured footsteps echoed against the wood paneling as he paced. Claire’s laptop keys clicked rapidly, the sound oddly comforting in the tense silence.

“They can’t just demolish a historic property without cause,” Claire said, the blue glow of her screen reflecting in her determined eyes. “There are procedures, preservation laws—”

“Since when has Wheeler cared about laws?” my voice cracked. The coffee from our interrupted date sat cold andforgotten beside me, reminding me how quickly everything had unraveled. Hunter paused his pacing to squeeze my shoulder, his touch sending warmth through me despite everything. The faint scent of his cologne—pine and something spicy—reminded me of our walk through the gardens earlier, when everything had seemed perfect.

“We’ve got options,” he said, his thumb tracing gentle circles on my shoulder. “We just need to think strategically.”

I covered his hand with mine, drawing strength from his steady presence. The calluses on his palm spoke of someone who understood hard work, who didn’t just throw money at problems. “The festival starts tomorrow. Even if they have a demolition order, they can’t act while we have hundreds of guests on the property.”

“Actually,” Claire looked up, shadows under her eyes from hours of research, “they might count on that. Create a crisis, force an evacuation...”

“Make us look incompetent,” I finished, bile rising in my throat. “Prove Pine Haven is a public safety hazard.”

Hunter pulled out his phone. His jaw set in a way I was recognizing meant trouble. “I’m calling my lawyer. There has to be a way to file an emergency injunction.”

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