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Seeing him next to her unwanted brother, and what Slater had done to Sydney had made it clear.
Trust.
She could trust Murdoch with forever. Trust him to do his best to never hurt her. And wasn’t that what it was about? Two people trying to love and protect one another?
She thought about that as he drove the rental car back to Dallas, and they doubled back to Garrity in her Jeep. They would find dinner, and grab a few more totes to pack the remainder of her office supplies and files in and load the Jeep in the morning.
But tonight, it was the two of them in Garrity. Where they had started. That was exactly as she wanted.
She wasn’t finished there, yet. She’d make one more trip in the morning.
Murdoch had another court appearance at one. Then she was going to lure him to her new place, kick Pen out for a few days by suggesting her sister go keep an eye on Sydney, and then she was going to doit.
Bring up forever.
See what that man had to say, too.
But for tonight, she was going to just be with him. And go from there.
* * *
His woman was lostin that head of hers. Murdoch knew when she was stewing about something. She’d been exceptionally quiet on the drive. He easily sensed what it was. She was worried about Sydney, for one thing.
He wished he’d had the opportunity to deck that Davis guy. Why hadn’t the guy seen the special woman Sydney was and treated her the way she deserved?
The guy was just a pure asshole, through and through. Zoey had said the youngest brother hadn’t seemed too bad. Reminded her of her teenage brother in a lot of ways, but the older two—jackasses through and through.
Murdoch pitied the women those two eventually ended up with someday. Too bad they couldn’t swoop in and rescue the youngest brother from their influence, though. Save him before he became a total asshole, too. The middle brother had said he would see to it the information Zoey had requested was provided as soon as he could. Other than that, they wanted no part of the search for their mother.
Or their siblings. But why did the guys have to be jackasses to the women Murdoch cared about? That was his only question.
He was a protector. He just wished he could take the hurt out of Zoey’s eyes. And Sydney’s.
That kid had deserved so much better than that.
He told Zoey that later that night, when he had her in her bed. Holding her, after loving her.
Yes, coming home with this woman was exactly what he was supposed to do now. Maybe it was time he stopped being a coward and made that a reality? Forever. With her.
Just as he had always known he wanted most of all.
He kissed her hair after she drifted off in his arms. Yeah, it was time.
In the morning, he was going to tell her exactly how he felt.
Then he was hers to do with what she wanted. Forever.
73
Crispin must have donesomething wrong. At the diner, when she was trying to run the equation. Transposed something somewhere. ’he'd just about figured it out when Cara had made her wipe the syrup off the table.
Before the waitresses saw.
Well, Crispin hadn't meant to embarrass her sister that way. She'd just not really beenthinkingabout where they were, just about the numbers in her head. Her sister had just been playing with the salt-and-pepper shakers—stemming a little, Cara had autism—and reversing them, moving them back and forth, back and forth.
It had triggered a thought. Crispin had run with it.
Her sister had been ready to clobber her. Crispin's cheeks heated with belated embarrassment. The waitress had just laughed and given her a rag to clean the syrup up. Said they were used to her around there.
