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The applause at the Fairmont Crest Hotel roared like an incoming tide, but Ava Hawthorne didn’t hear it. Her ears were ringing with the high-pitched hum of a past she had buried eight years ago in the frozen mud of the Colorado Rockies. / Chapter 10 / 10

Chapter 10 - THE SCAR ON EVERYTHING WORTH KEEPINGSix months later.

The sun was setting over the Colorado Rockies, painting the jagged peaks in brilliant shades of amber, violet, and gold.

The Fairmont Crest Hotel was quiet tonight, but across town, in the newly expanded Eastbridge Community Center, the rooms were filled with the sound of children laughing, dishes clattering, and music playing.

Ava Hawthorne stood on the wide wooden porch of a newly restored mountain cabin just outside Aspen. The air smelled of pine needles, wet earth, and woodsmoke.

Footsteps crunched on the gravel path behind her.

She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

Nathan walked up beside her, wearing a soft flannel shirt, his hair touched with silver at the temples, the familiar scar over his left eyebrow catching the evening light. He wasn't the untouchable tech CEO he used to be, nor the hunted phantom living in the shadows. He was simply home.

Without a word, Nathan reached into his pocket, pulled out the old silver compass pendant—its crescent scratch gleaming softly in the twilight—and held it out on its frayed leather cord.

"You left this on my workbench," Nathan said softly, a gentle smile touching his lips.

Ava took the compass from his palm, her fingers brushing against his warm skin. She slipped the cord over her own neck, feeling the cool metal rest against her chest.

"I didn't leave it," Ava said, looking out over the endless expanse of the mountains where their lives had nearly ended, and where they were finally beginning again. "I was just keeping it safe for you."

From inside the cabin, the sound of little Lily’s laughter rang out as she chased a golden retriever across the hardwood floor, shouting for her dad to come see the dollhouse door she had just helped fix.

Nathan wrapped his arms around Ava’s waist, pulling her close against his chest.

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The heavy mahogany door of the dressing room seemed to close in on us, trapping the suffocating tension inside. Richard’s hands were shaking as he clutched the small, tarnished silver pendant. His knuckles were bone-white.

The heavy mahogany door of the dressing room seemed to close in on us, t...

The heavy silver fork slipped from my fingers, clattering sharply against the gold-rimmed porcelain of my dinner plate.

The heavy silver fork slipped from my fingers, clattering sharply agains...

The heavy mahogany door of the Fairmont Copley suite clicked shut with a muffled, expensive thud.

The heavy mahogany door of the Fairmont Copley suite clicked shut with a...

"Everything worth keeping," Nathan whispered, resting his chin on her shoulder, "should have a scar."

Ava closed her eyes, leaning back into his embrace, finally feeling the ache in her chest transform into something whole, permanent, and entirely real.

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