Page 112 of Light My Fire Three Times
“Yeah.” My voice is hollow, but I continue, despite how difficult it is to admit. “He’s claiming that I took money when I was still working there, but I never did, Karl. I didn’t. I just… I don’t know how to prove it. I have Ivy’s friend helping me. I’m sure Sloane Katz will do a good job, but I’m still nervous…”
“I’m sure Leo told you that you have us, right?” Karl declares fiercely. “We’ll help you in any way we can as well.”
I nod with a thin smile. “Yeah, he did say that a lot.”
“Well, whatever you need from us, we will do.”
“I… I don't even know where to start with all of this,” I admit, exhaling slowly. “It feels like I'm drowning in it, Karl. I don't know what to focus on first.”
Karl leans back in his chair, his gaze steady but gentle, the concern still there, but without the same edge.
“You start by taking care of yourself first,” he says softly, his hand still holding mine, firm but tender. “Rest. Get better. Let Sloane handle the details, and let us handle whatever else we can. You focus on you, Liv. Let the rest come later.”
I blink at him, the simplicity of his advice making it sound like something I should have known all along.
I’ve been so consumed by everything falling apart around me that I forgot the most basic thing. I have to be okay first. But how could I focus on that when the world outside felt so heavy, whenthe pressure of the lawsuit and my past mistakes kept pressing down on me like a weight I couldn’t shift?
“I don’t know how to rest,” I admit, voice small. “I’ve been running so fast for so long, I forgot what it was like to just… stop.”
Karl’s thumb brushes the back of my hand again, slow and soothing. “It’s okay to stop, Liv. You’ve earned it. I’ll help you, okay? We’ll help you.”
My chest tightens again, but not from the suffocating stress. This time, it’s something warm spreading through me. The idea of not having to do it all alone. It’s… almost comforting.
“Thank you,” I say quietly. “For being here. For… caring.”
Karl meets my gaze, his expression soft but serious. “Of course I care. You don’t have to thank me for that.”
I let out a shaky breath and give him a small, tired smile. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Karl. I really don’t.”
“Well, that isnotsomething you have to worry about.”
As he grins at me, it hits me just how much my life has changed since being here. I really didn’t know that Coyote Glen was going to change everything for me in the way that it has.
I can see now why Ivy wanted me to come so badly.
It really has been a rest for me. In more ways than I ever could have planned for.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Jesse
DECEMBER 17TH
I’m halfwaythrough a cup of coffee when Ivy’s name pops up on my phone. It isn’t too strange for her to call me at this time of night, but for some reason, my blood runs ice cold.
“Iv—.”
I barely even get her name out.
“Jesse, it’s Olivia… she’s in the hospital,” Ivy says, and just hearing the words hits me as a sucker punch to the gut.
My hand freezes on the phone. I’m not sure if it’s my head or my chest that’s suddenly tightening, but I feel the panic creep in fast. “She passed out. They think it’s from stress. Please come pick me up. Now. I need to get there, and I need to leave the guys with the kids.”
“Wait, what?” The words come out sharp because my brain hasn’t caught up with what she’s saying. “What the hell do you mean by passed out? Is she okay?”
“I don’t know yet, just get here,” she demands, and I can practically hear her anxiety buzzing through the phone.
I don’t even think about it; I hang up, toss the coffee aside, and sprint out the door.
