Page 102 of When the Silence Breaks

“They grow up too fast,” Dinah said gently from across the room. “One minute they need their mother, and the next, some new distraction has taken all their time and energy.”

Sarah eased into a rocking chair and watched him, rocking while she let her tears of joy finally fall. Maybe she shed a few tears as well for every hour spent wondering if she’d see him again. For the lies. For Aaron. For everything she’d lost—and everything she was holding now.

“You weresobrave,” she whispered under her breath. She didn’t want to remind Jeremy of the bad men. “And I’m never letting you go again.”

She turned slightly, her eyes locking once again with Ryder’s.

Thank you, she mouthed.

He nodded, his smile tender and compassionate—from across the room—and she wished he would move closer and wrap his arms around her. They’d been through so much in a few short days that it might take her weeks to unravel the tangle in her mind. But one thing she wasn’t confused about was RyderGoodwin. After seeing the picture in his file, reading about his heroics, and choosing him for her mission, she realized now that a small part of her might have already chosen him for another mission—one that would take time and tenderness. She rose from the rocker, moved to Jeremy, and bent down to kiss his forehead, then sauntered over to Ryder.

She planned to stand next to him and watch her son, but he pulled her forward and into him, and she went willingly. Wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head against his chest to listen to his strong heartbeat. She could stay there forever nestled in the stability he radiated. He hadn’t exactly offered her anything but this moment in his arms, and she would take it.

Dinah appeared again, and Sarah didn’t bother moving out of Ryder’s arms.

“Let’s get you and Jeremy settled,” she said. “Then we’ll let the world wait. I made up the guest room. You can sleep there as long as you need. Be safe and secure. Let me know whatever you need. We’re here. Ryder’s here tonight at least too, aren’t you, Ryder?”

“Sure.”

She leaned back to look up into his eyes and caught his smile and wink. “I’m here for as long as you need,” he added.

And the memory of their shared kiss on the mountaintop flooded her with heat.

“Mommy, Mommy.” Jeremy raced for her, holding up a dinosaur. “It’s a Ree Rex.”

Sarah laughed and lifted him up in her arms while remaining close to Ryder.

For the first time in days—maybe longer—she felt the trembling inside begin to quiet.

She was holding her whole world again.

And for now, that was enough.

Forty-Three

One Month Later

His horse, the stubborn-but-loyal stocky bay mare, Daisy, needed exercise. And Ryder needed to feel like himself again. So here he was, reins in hand, riding the trail with Holt beside him, both mounted and making the slow climb toward the overlook known as Widow’s View.

Holt’s gelding, Flint, kept pace with Daisy as they crested the hill. The two horses stood side by side, breath rising in the chill air, ears flicking in the cold wind. Ryder never got enough of this spot—the sweeping valley below, especially when it was bathed in late-afternoon gold. The crisp breeze tugged at the last stubborn leaves still clinging to branches, freeing some to spin across the path.

The jagged teeth of the Cascades cast long shadows across Mercy Ridge, the town Ryder’s great-grandfather had founded generations ago. After everything that had happened, Ryder felt the hush that settled over the land as if Blackspire Mountain had exhaled. Or maybe that hush, that quiet, was finally settling in Ryder’s soul, and something had been set right.

“Thanks for what you did, Holt.”

“You know I have your back, no matter what. Conflict of interest doesn’t even begin to cover it. But I dug into classified information, took point anyway, and now you get the benefit of the inside scoop.” Holt grinned.

“You could have tanked your career.”

“Better my career than lose my brother. But let’s just say the higher-ups were glad to have Malcolm in custody instead of him getting his hands on a bioweapon.” Holt rested his forearms on the saddle horn and squinted into the setting sun. “How’s Dean doing?”

“He’s working for Good Adventures again.” Ryder was relieved the investigators had cleared him—Maddox had leveraged Dean’s family, and he’d cooperated with everything once he was safe. The guy was a top-notch wilderness survivalist, and his skills had been put to the test when he’d been stabbed and left for dead inside that antique plane, facing off with an avalanche.

Ryder adjusted his grip on the reins, the wind tugging at his collar. “I keep going over it,” he said finally. “We thought Dean was gone. No pulse. And with everything coming down around us, the looming avalanche...” But Dean’s pulse had slowed just enough, they’d somehow missed it. Still, Ryder wasn’t sure any of them—Sarah, Ryder, or Dean—would have survived if they’d carried Dean’s dead weight with them. They couldn’t have fled the avalanche, no doubt there.

Holt gave a slow nod. “You did what you had to do.”

“Still.” Ryder’s jaw tightened. “We missed it. Left him bleeding in a wrecked plane, in freezing temperatures. He should’ve died.”