Page 34 of The Beat of her Heart

The steady rhythm of the water calmed her, even as the noise of the party hummed behind her. She never felt comfortable in places like this—crowded with people, chatter filling the air. She wasn’t one for small talk, and being surrounded by colleagues outside of work only made it worse.

She watched the ocean for a long time, letting her mind drift. Addie, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease. Every time Giselle looked at her, Addie was smiling, herwarm presence drawing people in as if she’d known them all her life.

Giselle wasn’t surprised, though. Addie seemed to have that effect on people.

Giselle’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and glanced at the screen: Dr. Nova.Again. Without thinking, she hit the “ignore” button and slipped the phone back into her pocket. She didn’t want to deal with them. Not here, not now.

Her eyes drifted back to Addie, who was talking to a group of colleagues, her smile as bright as ever.

Ember appeared beside her, holding a drink. “Thought you might need one of these.”

Giselle glanced at the drink, hesitating for a second before taking it. “Thanks.”

Ember smiled, her eyes scanning the room for a moment before settling on Giselle again. “You don’t do these kinds of things, do you?”

“Not if I can help it.”

Ember chuckled, leaning against the wall next to her. “I figured.”

They stood in silence for a moment, watching the party. Giselle sipped her drink,grateful for the excuse not to talk. But Ember wasn’t done with her.

“You’ve been watching Addie all night,” Ember said.

Giselle stiffened slightly. “I look at everyone the same.”

Ember laughed softly, shaking her head. “Sure, you do.”

Giselle didn’t respond, keeping her eyes on the waves outside the window.

“You know,” Ember said, “Phoenix Ridge has a way of healing people.”

Giselle didn’t look at her, but her jaw tightened. “Some wounds go too deep.”

Ember raised an eyebrow, her expression thoughtful. “Maybe. But I’ve seen it happen before. We get these fires up in the mountains sometimes. They burn through everything—forests, homes, miles of land. It’s terrifying how they eat up the landscape like it’s nothing.”

Giselle’s gaze flicked to Ember, intrigued despite herself.

“But then,” Ember continued, “the rains come. They pour down on the land for days, and suddenly, the fire’s gone. And monthslater, everything starts to grow back. The land heals.”

Giselle tilted her head. “Sounds like it’s the rain doing the healing, not the town.”

Ember laughed, for real this time. “Maybe. But sometimes, you just need a little rain to get things started.”

Giselle glanced at her, trying to decide if there was any truth behind Ember’s words. She didn’t believe in healing, not as Ember seemed to. Some scars ran too deep to ever disappear.

Ember clapped her on the shoulder, smiling. “Keep looking at Addie like that, and the rain might come sooner than you think.”

Giselle opened her mouth to deny it again, but Ember had already turned and walked away, disappearing into the crowd. Giselle sighed.

She could handle surgery with a full team watching her every move, but here in a crowd? That was a different challenge. One that Addie didn’t seem to have. Josephine was moving toward her. Giselle rolled her eyes.

Shit.

She didn’t want any more introductions, but Josephine didn’t seem to care. She was approaching with a curvy blonde in a polka-dotted dress. The blonde had a smile draped across her face that Giselle found rather awkward.

She’d say she didn’t like the blonde already, but that would be too presumptuous.

“Giselle, I wanted to introduce you to Dr. Kingston,” Josephine said.

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