Kane comes back in.
"Killian's gone. The sheet went with him."
"You good," Jaxson says to him.
"Yeah."
"Good. Go home, there's nothing to do here today for you."
In the parking lot the sun has come up enough to take the cold off the steel doors. Kane walks me to the truck on the passenger side. He doesn't open the door for me, he learned in the first three days not to do that, but he stops next to me when I stop.
I turn into him and put my arms around his ribs. He goes still for a beat before both arms come around me, and when they close they're tight against my back, his chest broad and warm under my cheek. I stay wrapped in him for a long beat, my face against his shirt.
I lift my face and his mouth meets mine. The kiss is slow and soft, and everything we've both been carrying goes into it. He kisses me back with his hand flat against the back of my neck, and neither of us hurries.
When I finally step back his hand falls away last. I open the door and get in. He goes around to the driver's side, slides in, and puts the key in the ignition without turning it.
"You okay," he says.
"I will be."
He turns toward me without starting the truck, eyes direct on mine. "Anything you need from me, now or later, you ask. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere this time."
"I know. But thanks, I needed to hear you say it out loud."
His eyes are blue-green, tired but present.
"I have one thing to tell you," I say.
He waits.
"Danny would have been happy."
He doesn't answer, just keeps looking at me. Then he turns his face to the windshield, and the muscle along his jaw tightens once and lets go.
He puts a hand on the wheel and starts the truck. The other comes across the bench and takes mine, his palm warm against my knuckles. He doesn't let go as he pulls out of the lot.
I look out the window for the first part of the drive. I think about Danny. Not the brother who died, the brother who knew which man to put in his sister's hand, who trusted him to do the right thing eventually even if he had to do the wrong thing first.
Then I think of Kane, his hand still over mine on the bench. I'm learning to love him, and when I say so for the first time, it won't be in a truck.
Less than two weeks ago I drove into Blackwood Falls expecting to find a stranger who knew my brother. I found someone who takes care of people without announcing it. Silent in a room, with eyes that say more than his mouth ever will. Grumpy on first look and tender once you get close, more than anyone's ever been with me. The rough parts I'll work on with him, there's plenty of time for that.
The truck comes up the gravel drive and Kane parks beside the porch. We get out and he follows me up the steps. Inside, the door closes behind us and the cold from the lot goes off me in two breaths.
I turn into him and find his mouth before he can speak. He kisses me back, hungry, full of every want he's been keeping locked down. His hands move from my waist up my back, mine slide into his hair, and the kiss stops being slow. I can't pull away from him, and I don't want to try.
When I finally do I take his hand and lead him down the hall toward the bedroom. He follows without a word.
The promise I'm not making out loud yet is forever. For the rest of his life and the rest of mine. If he lets me.
Epilogue: Kane
The party already had two hours on it by the time I parked the truck on the gravel beside Jaxson's. Callie was on the stairs to the mezzanine before I'd shut my door, and Hazel's laugh came down through the open bay before I'd crossed the floor.
Killian has put the case in the hands of the people who needed it. The rest of us are still moving carefully, our bodies not yet ready to trust the threat is finished.
By the time I get up the stairs the room is full. Bear has claimed the couch farthest from the speakers. Ryker has the cards out and Killian sitting across from him for the duration. Silas is at the back rail with Nora in front of him, his hand low on her back. Sloane is on the couch with Hazel, the two of them laughing about something Bear should not be hearing. Elena is leaned against Jaxson while she pretends not to be, and Jaxson is pretending right back. Sera and Mama Lou are at the bar with Callie between them. Mama Lou is showing them both something with her hands. Callie is laughing.
