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“It took years for me to accept Joseph and his daughter, Lola. And then one day, Mom had this undeniable glow about her.” Glassy-eyed, Kirsten clamps her lips between her teeth and sniffles. “Was the same she had with Dad.” A soft smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. “She’d found happiness again. Love.”
I cradle Kirsten’s hands in mine, my thumbs brushing her knuckles. “That’s a good thing. Right?”
Kirsten nods. “It is.” She sniffles. “But I wonder if she would’ve moved on as easily if she’d been home that night, too. If she’d been in the house and heard the gunshot as she hid from the intruder. If she’d had to wait until the coast was clear, only to find my dad in a pool of his own blood.”
Emotion swells in my throat as I give her hands a gentle squeeze. “Had she been home, I’m sure things would’ve been a lot different.”
“I want to wipe that memory away, Trav. I want to move forward.” Her chin wobbles as she holds my stare. “I want to believe nothing like this will happen to me again.”
God, how I want to grant this wish for her. To tell her what happened when she was a little girl was a fluke. A wrong place, wrong time type of situation. Tell her that her stalker was a sick man who needed help. That his actions are not a reflection of her.
But I can’t say such things. I can’t promise her an unforeseen future. And I definitely can’t say something that would tarnish her dad’s memory and what happened to him and her.
I drop a kiss to her tear-stained lips. “Tomorrow isn’t promised, sunshine. I wish it was.” I reach up and toy with the ends of her hair. “All we can do is live in the now. Live and laugh and love. Keep the memory of others alive as we move forward.”
She drags a finger under her nose and sniffles with a nod.
“It’s unfortunate I’ll never meet your dad. But I bet he’d want you tolive. Experience all life has to offer and never miss a moment.”
“He would,” she rasps.
I bring a hand to her chin and lift until her eyes lock with mine. “This is not me trying to persuade you into saying yes.” I pause for a beat and she nods. “When you’re ready, I want this step with you.” My knuckles caress her cheek. “More than anything, I needyou. Whether in the same space or not.”
Warm, salty lips crash down on mine. Dainty fingers trail slowly up my chest, snaking around my neck and up into my hair. A soft sigh spills from her lips and I swallow every drop as my arms band around her middle. Somehow, the kiss doesn’t escalate intonot safe for friends and familyterritory. And when I hug her closer to my frame, she breaks the kiss.
“Yes,” she whispers.
My brows pinch together. “Yes?”
Fingers in my hair, stormy eyes latch on to my ambers, she nods subtly. “Yes, Travis. I’d love to move in with you.”
“About fucking time. Ugh!” Oliver groans from the other room.
“Thanks for the privacy, Ollie,” Kirsten shouts. “I’ll remember that next time Levi comes in for breakfast.”
“Got nothing to hide,” he says, strolling into the room with everyone in his wake.
“You sure about that?” Delilah pipes up, then shifts her gaze from Oliver to Kirsten and then Skylar. “You forget how long we’ve known you.”
Oliver narrows his gaze, his head tipping slightly to the side. “Right back at ya, Fox.”
Much as I love this town, there are too many damn secrets. But as I glance around the room, as family and friends congratulate us on taking the next step in our relationship, there is nowhere else I want to live. No one else I want by my side as we navigate what happens next.
“Love you, sunshine.”
The corner of her mouth kicks up in a half-smile that warms my chest. “Love you too,Officer.”
EPILOGUE
KIRSTEN
Mid-January—Three Weeks Later
Whispers floatfrom one townie to another as Stone Bay recuperates from the horrors Charles Yatz brought down on our community. But I’ll take those whispers over him breathing air any day of the week.
Cold, I know. But it doesn’t make it any less true.
Because now that he is gone, I stroll the sidewalks without fear. I live life without looking over my shoulder.
