“Come back? Let’s figure this out together?”
She nodded.
He pressed his lips to hers, kissing her with every ounce of promise and vulnerability. Their past and the future unshakably tied to the present. And in every moment, each other. Two halves reunited to make something better. To become whole.
* * *
Christopher tightened his grip on Ashley. He was too aware of their surroundings and the crowd hovering only a few steps outside. The office was hardly a sanctuary. His eyes and nose itched from the dust bunnies kicked up on his entrance. The room smelled like mold and mildew and fish. But he couldn’t let her go. Not again.
His fingers dug into her waist, clutching as much as touching. With his mouth, he laid claim to her just as she gripped his heart in her hands. The world faded away as he shut his eyes and focused solely on kissing her, his heartbeat thundering in his ears. The soft press of her body against his lured him to seek more, to cling to her.
She broke away. Pulling her head back and sliding his hands off her waist. She interlaced their fingers and squeezed.
He took in a shuddering breath and searched her smiling face. She was safe. That was what mattered. The Prims hadn’t succeeded in their dastardly plan. Lonnie and Zach hadn’t been part of a conspiracy to kill his wife.
As the facts shook loose from the fiction in his mind, he kept circling the main point. She was safe. She was alive. He wouldn’t waste another moment. He couldn’t wait to get her out of here.
A throat cleared, the loud guttural sound breaking through his peace.
He turned and frowned.
Zach stood nearby.
Close enough, Christopher could see every tiny tell that the man was scared. From his quickly darting gaze to his constant weight shifting from foot to foot, nerves radiated off Zach.
“Ashley, I’m so sorry,” Zach said in halting spurts as he tiptoed into the space.
Christopher might have growled. He felt his upper lip curl in a sneer. And she squeezed his hand again, hard. He’d made a truce with Zach while the other man was behind bars. Now freed, he’d helped Ashley and upheld his end of the deal. Christopher had to accept the treaty.
“Did you know what the Prims were up to?” she asked, tipping her head to the side.
Her voice was far steadier than Christopher’s. He was glad to let her take the lead.
“No, I swear, I didn’t. They were unhappy with the Inn. They contributed to some of our informal meetings when we discussed our frustrations. But I had no idea how deep the animosity went. I would never wish anyone harm.” Zach turned to Christopher. “Even you.”
Christopher fought an eye roll and a snigger. “Can you admit that while you weren’t involved in radicalizing the men, your constant bombardment of negative and false information stoked a raging wildfire?”
“Yes,” Zach said. “I am truly, deeply sorry for how my words twisted them.”
“I accept your apology,” Ashley said. “Because I think we all need to heal and move on. I trust your sincerity and that you didn’t want everything to get so far out of hand. But we have to come together as a community. At the end of the day, we—” she motioned a finger between the three of them “—have shared history, and that accounts for a whole lot more than petty disagreements. We have to do better. Everyone else will follow. It’s finally our time. Our generation is in charge, and instead of tearing each other down, we should build each other up. Let’s leave the discord and strife behind us.”
Zach extended a hand.
Christopher stared at it hard.
“Please?” Ashley elbowed him in the ribs.
He sucked in a sharp breath, rubbing his side. Her bony elbows were the only thing he hadn’t missed. In the morning, when he would have inevitably woken up with one of her sharp points poking into his back, he’d have remembered. He stepped forward and shook Zach’s hand.
“I suppose I’d better get back to the officers and let them take me back to jail,” Zach said heavily.
Christopher crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his gaze. But he didn’t move away from his wife. And she poked him again.
He sucked in a breath and rubbed his ribs. He was going to have a bruise. Meeting her gaze, he frowned, scowling with every ounce of rage and frustration he possessed.
She met his gaze with a hard stare of her own.
She was determined to be the bigger person. He’d forgotten how magnanimous she could be. He held his grudges tight to his chest like a lifejacket when, in reality, the petty grievances were only links on a chain dragging him down. “I’ll drop the charges,” Christopher bit out. “We have to give statements anyway. Did the Prims say how they managed the hauntings? The fire?”
