Page 155 of Cozen

As long as she kept his heart.

So she did.

He was waiting for her on the back porch of their beach bungalow like he always did when he knew she was coming home. Leaning against the railing in his signature silk shirt with the top two buttons undone, and black slacks, he was more relaxed than she had seen him in months.

“About time,” he told her.

Cozen grinned. “I had to make a stop along the way.”

Sargon cocked a brow. “Where to?”

“Had to drop off a ring, for one.”

“For two?”

She nodded down the beach. “Took a walk.”

Sargon chuckled, and came down the last two steps. “What, a walk down memory lane?”

“I like memory lane when it’s for us. Those are my very best memories.”

Her husband’s grin softened into a smile, and before she could say another thing, he pulled the leather cord up over his head that he had been wearing for months. A quick tug with his hands, and the leather snapped apart. The golden band dangling from the end dropped into his palm, and he held it out to her.

Cozen took her wedding ring back, and slipped it on. Sargon waited patiently as she removed his ring from her thumb, and handed it over, too.

For a moment, they were quiet.

Peace settled back in to their lives.

They were normal again.

Together again.

Perfect again.

“Come here,” he demanded.

Cozen found herself wrapped in his strong embrace before her next blink. Home, and love, and serenity surrounded her. Strength, and comfort, and faith soaked into her bloodstream.

She tipped her head back to find Sargon staring down at her. He dropped a quick kiss to her lips, and then another one just as fast and as sweet as the first.

“You almost lost this job,” he told her.

Cozen sighed. “It was never going to get to that point. You were too close for it to fail. That was the problem. You got too close this time. You never get this close—always just far enough away to watch me work, but never close enough to step in. What happened?”

Sargon shrugged. “Circumstances, I guess.”

“Good thing you were there. It helped in the end.”

“You could say that.”

“You know what amazed me, though?” she asked.

Sargon grinned to show off that dimple of his. “What?”

“I think you made me fall in love with you all over again.”

His laughter was a balm to her soul.