Page 11 of Ranger's Wildflower

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Her gaze snapped back to mine, sharp and defensive.

“You don’t get to decide anything about me.”

There it was.

Fear dressed up as anger.

I knew the difference.

I’d seen it too many times before.

But this wasn’t fear of me.

This was fear of what happened if she let me close enough to stay.

I pushed slowly away from the counter and gave her space.

“I’m not your enemy, Tessa.”

Something in her expression cracked then.

Small.

Fast.

Gone almost immediately.

“I know,” she whispered.

But she didn’t sound convinced.

I nodded once and headed for the door.

“For what it’s worth…” I paused with my hand on the handle and glanced back at her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Her breath caught softly behind me.

The sound followed me all the way outside.

And standing there on the sidewalk afterward, one thing settled hard in my gut.

Whatever happened to Tessa Bloom—

it didn’t just hurt her.

It taught her not to trust kindness when she saw it.

5

Tessa

The bell chimed softly behind Ace as the door shut.

Silence rushed back into the shop.

Not peaceful silence.

The heavy kind.

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