She enjoyed living in his cabin. It was homey, welcoming, much more cozy than the Covington mansion had ever been. And it was beautiful again. All signs of the gunfight that had taken place there had been eliminated, except for the scars on the log walls that would only fade with time. Beau had replaced not only the broken windows butallof the cabin’s windows and even the sliders on the back deck with strong, bulletproof glass. While he didn’t expect any trouble, he was determined to do everything he could to always keep her safe.
Sierra shook her head in wonder. Even her cranky moods and bouts of crying when the loss of her family became too overwhelming didn’t scare him away. He seemed to care about her deeply, although he’d never said it. Then again, her father had told her hundreds of times that he loved her, and in the end, he’d loved himself and his money more than his family.
She dabbed at her wet eyes before more tears could fall. She detested tears. They made her feel weak, vulnerable. Being vulnerable was the worst feeling of all. But it was so hard knowing she’d never see her biological brothers again. She’d never see her other brothers again either, except for visiting them in prison. Assuming she could ever convince them to actually allow her to visit.
So far they hadn’t.
All four of them—Thomas, Vincent, Anthony and Charles—had made plea deals to avoid longer prison sentences. But they’d still be old men by the time they got out. They blamed her for that, especially since she’d managed to avoid any charges at all. They also blamed her for their father’s death, of course. She couldn’t fault them for that. She had her own guilt to deal with over his loss. But knowing he’d murdered her mother and two of her brothers went a long way toward assuaging that guilt. The final nail in the proverbial coffin of her relationship with her remaining brothers was that they resented that the FBI had seized all of their assets while Sierra had retained hers.
She had her mother to thank for that.
Her mother’s insistence that only legally obtained money and properties flowed to her children meant that the FBI had no legal claims to Sierra’s holdings. Sierra’s financial independence was her mother’s legacy, and it would have been for her biological brothers as well if they’d stayed fully on the legal side of her father’s businesses. The FBI was able to argue that there was no way to distinguish legal from illegal gains when it came to Rafael and Esteban, so the government had taken it all instead of allowing any of it to pass to Sierra. Not that it mattered. She didn’t need their money. And she’d give up everything she had if it would mean that she could spend even one more day with them or her mother.
“I love you, Mom. Rafael. Esteban. I miss you so dang much.”
Her hands shook as she placed a single red rose on top of each of the three graves. In spite of the FBI seizing her father’s estates, including his mansion in Memphis, they’d deeded the family cemetery to her in exchange for the documentation her mother had collected.
She’d had a new, fancy headstone made for Jack Wilson’s grave, the man who’d originally been buried with Esteban’sname. Mr. Wilson was now given the dignity in death that he’d been denied in life.
She’d had her father buried in the Memphis family cemetery too, alongside his parents and a long line of Covington ancestors. But the idea of burying her brothers there, or leaving her mother with the man who’d killed her, was impossible to accept. While she’d mulled over her options, Beau had done the unexpected.
He’d offered to have all three of them buried on his mountain property here in Mystic Lake.
It was remote, protected from curious onlookers. And it allowed her to visit them any time she wanted. It was an offer she couldn’t refuse.
Straightening, she whispered a quick prayer for her siblings and mother, and even one for her father. After everything he’d done, after stealing her family from her, she still couldn’t pretend he’d never existed. So many of her treasured memories included him. He’d done so much good for her and her family through the years. She remembered and cherished that side of him, in spite of hating the way he’d ended things. It was an emotional tug of war inside her. All she could hope was that time would continue to erode the pain and help her find peace. Time and Beau.
Smiling at the thought of her fierce protector, she headed down the winding path that he’d cut through the woods that ended at the front of his cabin.
He was waiting there for her.
He got up from one of the rocking chairs he’d bought because she’d mentioned she thought it would be nice to sit on the porch and look at the fall foliage when the cool breezes made sitting on the exposed back deck too chilly. His shiny boots reflected the morning light as he jogged down the steps to greet her with a smile just as bright. His leather police-issued jacket hung openrevealing his crisply ironed button-up shirt and the dress pants that could have stood on their own from the sharp creases.
“Looking extremely handsome this morning, Chief Dawson.” She plucked an imaginary piece of lint off his collar and smoothed it down. “Ready for your first day back at the job? I know Chris will be ecstatic to finally pass the reins over to you.”
He pressed a whisper-soft kiss against her lips. “Collier and everyone else. They call me complaining nearly every day, as you well know. Collier’s sick of the paperwork and meetings with town leadership, especially the novice new mayor who was voted into office after that recall vote on our previous mayor. Or so Collier says.”
“You don’t believe him?”
He shrugged. “Collier did great as the chief. He was also partly responsible for convincing the Jerichos to settle their lawsuit against the town, allowing me to be rehired as chief and using their settlement to fund us looking into our cold cases, especially those involving missing persons. If it wasn’t for Collier, we’d probably still be fighting that lawsuit. And I certainly wouldn’t be the chief again. Everyone knows Collier made all that happen, in spite of their teasing. But he’s restless, always has been. It seems worse now. Maybe the responsibility was too constricting for an adventurer sort like him. Who knows.” His dark eyes searched hers. “Are you sure you want me to go back to work? I can put them off a little longer.”
“No. It’s time. We both have to move on. And I’m excited for you to get back in law enforcement. I’m so happy your town leaders and team didn’t let the Covington name and what happened keep them from asking you to return.”
He frowned. “What happenedis that you’ve always lived a law-abiding, exemplary life and brought honor to your family name. You did everything right, and you’re the reason I was given another chance at being chief. Anyone who doesn’tunderstand that or judges you for what others did isn’t worth our time.”
She smoothed the front of his shirt.
His frown deepened. “You’ve been crying again.”
She wiped her cheeks. “Only a little. I’m getting better every day, trying to focus on the happy times instead of how everything ended. I don’t think I could have survived these past few months without being able to lean on you. But you have to be getting tired of having me taking up space in your cabin. Even though I’m a friend with benefits.” She waggled her brows.
He laughed, then, as if he couldn’t help himself, he kissed her again. “The benefits definitely outweigh the tirades of broken English you subject me to.”
She rolled her eyes. “Broken English, ha. My English is perfect. It’s your Spanish that needs improvement.”
“Truth. I’m working on it,mi amor.” He slid his fingers through her hair. “I’ll never get tired of having you here with me. And I’m here for you to lean on as long as you want. Always.”
She tilted her head. “Always? Careful. I might take you up on that.”
