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Her heart swelled, and she lifted her hands to rest on his neck. “Yes, you do. And for the record, I think you’re fantastic.”
“Ditto, sweetheart.” He lightly kissed her again. “We can build a future together, with God as our guide. I believe in us too.” A flicker of doubt creased his features, and he hesitated. “Unless you’ve changed your mind.”
She placed a finger over his lips to shush him. “Never.”
A throat cleared, interrupting their intimate conversation. Olivia turned her head to see David standing a few feet away. His shirt was stained with blood and he held an ice pack up to his cheekbone.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to thank you both.” David drew closer, lowering the ice pack. “You saved my life.”
During Olivia’s fight with Susan, Cole and several Serenity police officers arrived. They heard a scream and subsequently broke into the office through one of the windows, arriving in the nick of time. Bryce was currently being interviewed by the District Attorney, Chief Sims, and Eli. He was telling them everything now that Susan was in custody. Mitch had already been arrested by state troopers. Cole had assured Olivia everyone involved would go to prison for a long time.
“I’m sorry you got dragged into this.” Olivia felt horrible that her former assistant had almost been killed. David must’ve been terrified. “Did Susan convince you to come to the office this morning?”
“No. Last night. I contacted her after being questioned by the rangers at Oak Gardens, and she confirmed you were being stalked. I realized that’s why you panicked when I asked you to dinner.” His expression turned remorseful. “I’m so sorry, Olivia. I can see now that I frightened you, but please believe me, that wasn’t my intention.”
“I know.” She’d been overly cautious after the attacks. Thinking back on the interaction, David hadn’t done anything overtly threatening. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have thought anything of it.
“Anyway last night, Susan said you would be in the office and explained I could stop by to discuss the issue with you. When I arrived, I was attacked by Mitch. He tied me up and stuck me in the closet. I was there all night. In the morning, Susan took my phone, unlocked it, and sent a text message to you. When I heard you come in, I started banging on the floor to get your attention, hoping you’d be able to escape before Susan attacked you.”
Olivia’s heart sank to her feet. She felt horribly guilty about suspecting David. “You tried to save my life.”
“Friends take care of each other.” David met her gaze. “That’s all I’ve ever felt for you, Olivia. Friendship. My heart belongs to Angie. We’ve had a really hard time lately, but I’m determined to get us back on track. Being tied up and locked in a closet gave me a lot of time to think about my mistakes.”
A flash of color caught Olivia’s attention over David’s shoulder. She recognized the pretty woman in the red sweatshirt. Panic was written all over her features as she went from police officer to police officer, trying to get past the crime scene tape.
Olivia pointed. “David, Angie’s here. Now might be a good time to start correcting those mistakes.”
His expression froze, and then he turned on his heel. The moment David saw Angie, he sprinted across the distance between them. The couple embraced in a fierce hug and Angie began crying. David kissed her.
Watching them, Olivia’s heart swelled. “I hope they can work things out.”
“So do I.”
She turned to face Cole, rising to brush a kiss across his lips. A thrill went through her, and she was tempted to deepen the kiss, but they were in public. “Well, Ranger Donnelly, now that all the people responsible for stalking me are in custody, what do you say we have our official first date? I skipped breakfast, and having my life threatened really leaves a girl hungry.”
“Sure. On one condition.”
She leaned back, eyeing him suspiciously. “What is it?”
“You help me write my speech for Eli’s wedding.” He grinned. “It’s in a few days and I still don’t know what I’m going to say.”
She laughed. “I can do that.”
He rubbed his nose against hers, stalling her breath. “We make a good team, Olivia. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
THIRTY-TWO
Nerves jittered Cole’s insides. He tugged on the tie threatening to cut off his air supply. The temperatures inside the rustic barn were cool, but sweat still beaded along his forehead. In a few minutes, he was going to be standing in front of a crowd, many of them people he worked with and saw regularly. If he screwed this up, it was going to be humiliating. Worse, he’d let down Eli and Sienna.
“Stop fidgeting.” Olivia stepped in front of him, set her clipboard down, and then straightened his tie. Then she put her hands on his biceps. “You’ve got this.”
“Yeah, Donnelly.” Jackson waggled his brows. “Don’t worry about the videographer. I’m sure they can cut you out if they need to.”
Some more of the blood drained from his face. “Videographer…”
“Stop it.” Olivia gave Jackson a light shove. “You’re not helping, and if you don’t act supportive, I’m going to put you on valet duty. You’ll spend the rest of the wedding fetching people’s cars. Or worse.” Her eyes widened with a sudden idea. “You’ll be on clean-up and gift delivery duty. Last wedding I did, it took three trips to deliver everything to the bride’s house.”
