Page 106 of Day Break

Suddenly, there were several police officers rushing towards us.

“I called the cops,” Malory said with a smile. She started barking orders at the officers, and my ex-husband and Wesley were hauled away into the night in the back of a patrol car.

Thankfully, Elliott was once more out of my life. Our lives.

“Are you okay?” Lane asked me, his arms still wrapped around me tightly.

“Yes. You?” I asked back, looking up at the dried blood on his nose and the bruises forming on his cheek.

“Never better.” He smiled and then kissed me, wincing slightly with pain.

“With the new charges, there’s no chance in hell he’ll get out this time,” Malory said as she sat down at the table and leaned back, looking tired. “Any chance you can reheat this?” She motioned to the food. “I refuse to fill out my report on an empty stomach.”

I raced over and hugged her, then kissed her cheek.

“Thank you for being here,” I said before rushing off to reheat the meal. I even added another scoop of food on top for good measure.

I was thankful that I’d made extra food that night so we could share with a few of the officers. I even packed a couple to-go containers for some of them.

When I handed out slices of my raspberry cream pie, there were only two officers left, Officer Oliver Whitlock and Officer Alex Everette.

“You should open a restaurant. This island could use food this good,” Alex said.

“We have to drive almost an hour to get pie this good,” Oliver added.

I blushed. Besides Lane, no one had ever complimented me on my cooking.

“That’s not a half bad idea,” Lane said with a smile.

“I do love cooking and baking,” I admitted.

“There’s no doubt that your stroganoff and pie could win a few blue ribbons,” Malory said.

The officers left and Lane locked up the house. I had just finished the dishes, and we all sat around the table.

“Now that the excitement is over, and I’m done filling out all this paperwork, I’m going to use that guest room for the night and head back home in the morning,” Malory said with a yawn.

“Go. And in case I haven’t said it a million times already, thank you.” Lane walked over and hugged her.

“You got it, kid.” She hugged him back. “Glad I was here to help this time.”

I walked over and engulfed both of them in my arms. “Say the word, and I’ll send you a pie, a cake, or any homemade meal you want.” They both laughed.

It was a little strange to lie in bed in Lane’s arms with Malory sleeping just down the hallway. Not to mention, the bed in this room was a lot smaller than the one in my apartment.

When Byron jumped up and tried to snuggle between us on the bed, we both almost fell off. Byron wasn’t happy that he had to lie at our feet instead. Several times during the night, he tried to sneak up between us, and we’d have to force him down.

Neither of us got a lot of rest. I still managed to wake early, determined to give Malory another homemade meal before she headed home.

It had been a while since I’d made my coffee cake, so I jumped to the task and added a side of scrambled eggs, bacon, and cut fresh fruit.

Okay, so I might have gone a little overboard.

The looks on Malory’s and Lane’s faces assured me that I had made enough food for a dozen people.

After we finished eating, I packed up the rest of my coffee cake for Malory to take with her.

Watching her pull out of the driveway was hard. I’d felt safe with her there. In that short time, I’d gotten to know her, and she felt like family. Like George had.