I quickly saved my notes before turning to look at Finn.Everything inside me settled when I saw him.The ache that still lingered after the events of the weekend eased just from his presence.My man looked good in uniform, his utility belt sitting low on his hips, wearing that black polo with the TCSD on the left side and the stitched gold badge declaring him sheriff.His blue gaze was glued to where Peter was still holding my hand, despite having nearly jumped out of his skin.
Whoops, I hadn’t realized I hadn’t gotten my hand back yet.
Face darkening, Finn stepped up beside Peter, slapping him on the back hard enough to send the poor man teetering forward.At least he’d finally released my hand, even if the dude had dropped it like my fingers might inject him with venom.
“Band fundraiser?”Finn asked Peter.“Tell me how the sheriff’s department can help out.”
While Peter stumbled through a response, I took a sip of my drink.
“Did he just say future wife?”Love whispered to me.“What the…fluff.I said fluff!You heard me.It was totally fluff.”
“You’re being weird,” I whispered back.“Uncle Luca isn’t even here.”
“No, but Ethan is right over there with Elijah, and they will totally narc on me.”She lifted her hand, waving at her brothers.“Hey, little bros.Whatcha doing… Wait, are you two on a date?”
“When did you get home?”Ethan demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.“Ah, Christ on a cracker.What happened to a Bug-free summer?I knew we should have gone to Malibu with Fallon instead of staying home for break.”
Ignoring her, her brothers, and the girl the twins were with—okay, that was definitely something to file away and think about later, becausewhat do you mean, they were on a date?And also…one girl, not two?I needed very detailed answers.Later.Maybe I should call my sister and find out if she knew anything.Which was a stupid thing to question.Fallon would know every last detail, as usual—I leaned into Finn, lifting my face to accept a kiss.“Do you have time for a break?Bug and I are carbing up.”
“I always have time for you, baby.”
Finn
As expected,Hilary was out of jail by Tuesday.But very few people remained welcoming to her.She’d slowly been alienating herself from the community for years.Most people had only tolerated her because of Miss Hester, and now that she was gone, they couldn’t be bothered to put up with her bullshit.
Even the DA, Hilary’s cousin, who was a shady motherfucker to begin with, was fed up with her.For more than half a century, Trinity County had been dealing with corrupt prosecutors, primarily because, like my position, it was an elected one, and no one actually wanted the job.Whether people voted or not, the DAs still got elected simply because no other name was on the ballot.
Some might say I was corrupt too.I guess it depended on which side of the line people looked at me from.
Persuading a resident of my county to leave wasn’t something I’d ever had to do.Typically, if someone needed to be relocated, they met the angel of death.I was well aware that Angel was often my uncle.
This, however much I might have wanted it to be as simple as Max disposing of the situation, required a different approach.One that took longer than I would have liked.But time was a weird and precious commodity when a man was trying to fix something that was particularly delicate for the woman he loved.
Max could have handled the issue in a single visit, with cleanup taking a few hours at most.This took days.Each morning, I woke up with Grier snuggled into my side and then had to leave for work, knowing Hilary was walking around town.It wasn’t Grier’s physical safety I was concerned about, but her heart and the heaviness it felt being aware of what Hilary was capable of.
Other than Monday, when Remi and Grier had gone to Aggie’s, my woman hadn’t left the farm.Not once.There were no trips to the rec center for a few hours of rock-climbing.No stopping to chat with the kids who were now out of school and enjoying their summer break.Not a single side quest to check in with a few of the elderly residents she visited with because they had no family and they got lonely.
And the town felt the loss of her presence as much as I did.
As soon as Hilary was out, Grier locked herself and her animals away on the farm, feeling safer in her domain.
By Friday afternoon, I’d had no fewer than twenty people stop me to ask how Waffles was doing and, more specifically, to inquire if Grier was okay.I made it as far as my desk before Mom walked into my office without knocking.
“Got it sorted,” she announced, dropping onto the corner of my desk after setting a file beside my computer.“It only took a billion years.”
“Tali’s overdramatization of everything is rubbing off on you,” I commented, although I had to admit it had felt like everything was taking too long.Minutes seemed like hours, days stretching into months.It hadn’t even been a full week since the incident between Hilary and Grier.
“I’ve gotten spoiled by getting immediate action on troublesome issues.Actually following the letter of the law is an incredibly annoying and slow process that I do not appreciate.Like, at all.”She rubbed the center of her forehead.“It’s so much better when things can be fixed with a bullet.”
“If Grier ever found out I did that for her, it might break her heart.And I don’t ever want to risk that, Mom.It’s too valuable to me.”I shut my eyes, attempting to block that image from my head before it could form.“She’s too precious.”
I could survive a lot, but not that.Not hurting Grier.
“Not many people have a heart the size of Grier’s.You got lucky that she is your one.”Mom touched my arm, and I opened my eyes.“I think she’s pretty damn lucky too.Just saying.”
“Do not get sappy with me, lady,” I grumbled.
She sniffled, pretending to dash away a tear that hadn’t fallen, even though her eyes were overbright with them.“I’ll get sappy if I wanna.You aren’t the boss of me.I run this town, not you.”
