Page 48 of Branded Hearts

Harrison strides off toward the river. “I’m gonna check it out!” he announces eagerly.

I watch him go, shaking my head. “He’s like a kid in a candy store.”

Michael nods in agreement, his expression relaxed. “Yeah, but I think we all needed this break.”

These two couldn’t be more different—Harrison’s always bouncing around like a golden retriever, while Michael’s the steady one, the rock in the storm. It’s an odd pairing, but it works for them.

After a moment, I step out of the car and meet Michael around the back. Harrison returns from around the front of the house.

“This place really goes down to the river,” he exclaims, clearly impressed. I turn around and notice that we’re the first ones here. Michael seems to read my thoughts.

“Where are the other slow pokes? We actually beat them here?” he asks.

“Yeah, becausehewas speeding the whole way here,” Harrison quips, nodding to me.

“Was not. I’m a responsible driver,” I reply, a hint of defensiveness in my tone.

“Sure, mate. Just because you’re a cop doesn’t mean you can’t have a bit of fun,” Harrison adds.

“Fun?” I give him a sceptical look, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, Idon’t think so.”

I pull out my phone and call Xavier. He picks up on the second ring.

“Yeah, we’re about ten minutes away,” he replies. “Isla needed to pee, so we stopped off at the servo.”

I smile at Xavier’s knack for anticipating my questions. We’ve always had this unspoken understanding. Mum used to joke that we were so in tune, we might as well be twins with our telepathy.

“Alright, no worries. We’re just waiting in front.”

“See you soon,” Xav says before ending the call.

Iconsider calling Liv but decide against it. I don’t want to distract her while she’s driving, so I scroll through my recent texts and decide to message Amelia instead.

Moments later, her response comes in, and I can’t help but smirk at her bubbly energy.

As I read her messages, I can practically hear her reprimanding herself in her head. Despite her quirks, I’ve actually become quite fond of her. Weird as it may seem, I find her babbling and fumbling of words endearing. It’s cute.

Moments later, anothertext pings in.

I pocket my phone away just as Xav’s black Tacoma pulls up, followed by Liv’s Yaris, blaring some girly song. I hope she doesn’t drive around with music that loud on main roads. Then again, it’s her call. I need to ease up; I’m starting to sound like Dad.

The thought wrinkles my face.

“How loud is yourmusic, Liv? How do you even concentrate on driving?” Harrison blurts out, voicing what I was just thinking.

“Surely that’s not legal,” Michael says, as he turns to me for confirmation.

I just shrug.

“It wasn’t that loud!” Liv defends herself.

Harrison snorts. “It’s bad enough you’re listening to that sappy shit.”

“Sappy shit?” Imogen exclaims, placing a hand to her heart. “Taylor Swift is NOTsappy shit,you barbarian.”

“Taylor what?” Harrison looks genuinely confused, and Imogen scoffs in disbelief.

Xavier then steps in. “Now, now, children. That’s enough.”

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