Page 36 of Burning Hearts

“Billionaires?”

Jamie winced. “I usually don’t tell anyone. It’s not as if a town like Last Chance County is going to let me live a quiet life if I build some huge mansion-castle on the top of the hill overlooking town as if I have to use my money to lord it over everyone.”

“So you live in an average middle-class house and keep it a secret?”

Shehadkept it a secret.

At least he hadn’t pointed out it was basically lying.

“I guess the guy who does the books at church—at all the churches around town and the hospitals and the kids’ programs and the women’s shelter—probably has some kind of a clue.” She had the great joy of funding a lot of programs, and ones for kids were the best. Like the one she’d heard about a couple of months ago. A firefighter at Eastside firehouse wanted to start a community center for local disadvantaged kids.

She’d been planning to call Eddie when she’d heard her brother was in Alaska.

“So you give a lot of money away.”

“Right up until they start calling me and asking for donations. That always seems a little off, like they start a building project and suddenly I’m getting a lot of attention paid to me?”

“Sounds like a cynical life.”

“I would rather just be me, the girl who grew up in the trailer park. I like to play tennis. I like to go see movies with my brother or go to coffee with Kelsey. If the local hospital needs a new wing, then I’ll have someone else write a check for me so my name is never on the side of any building.”

Logan sat back in his chair and studied her. He bent his elbow and put his chin in his hand. Stared at her.

“What?”

“You pointed out that I’m a hero. Seems to me like you help people how you can, and maybe it’s no less valuable. You increase the hospital’s ability to treat patients who really need it, while I stand in the gap between someone’s whole life packed inside a cabin and the wildfire raging toward them.”

“You know my big secret now.”

“That you’re a hero too? Just in your own way.”

He really accepted who she was, just like that? “Why didn’t we have this conversation years ago?”

He looked at the fire, his head back against the chair. “I don’t know. But I’m learning to accept that God has perfect timing.”

“If He’s doing something, I have no idea what it is.” Jamie shifted to the edge of her seat.

“That’s the part where faith becomes an adventure.”

She wanted to believe that, but for years her spiritual life had been…dry. Maybe what faith she’d had in God was a thing of the past. She certainly hadn’t trusted Him to help her find Tristan.

She stood. “It’s still daylight out here, but my watch says bedtime.” She still wasn’t used to the time difference between here and home, or the long days this far north.

“The girls made a spot for you?”

She nodded. “There’s a spare bed in Sanchez’s room.”

He glanced over. “Thanks for sitting out here with me.”

“Thank you for telling me your story,” she said. “And listening to mine.”

She’d had so many different reactions that she’d long since given up inviting the vitriol that came from bitter people who thought she considered herself better than them for being successful. Or people who thought her being wealthy meant she should have an open hand anytime they asked.

“I’m glad you felt you could trust me with it.” And yet there was sadness in his gaze. Logan lifted his hand and touched her cheek. “Did we miss it?”

“Maybe it shouldn’t be this hard to agree.”

“I think we agree on plenty.” He seemed closer than a moment ago, his voice soft. “Helping people who need it. Living a quiet life. That might be more than we had before.”

---