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Jack stood. “Give me a minute. I have to do one thing first.”
He knelt beside Maggie’s chair. “Before I left, I told you I loved you. And I meant it. Will you marry me?”
Her lips quivered so that she didn’t think she could formulate a response as she stared into the eyes of the man she loved more than she’d ever thought possible.
“Yes. I love you. With all my heart.”
Then Jack kissed her, more passionately than he ever had before, as though he’d left behind all the ghosts of the past. He was hers now, completely.
“She said yes, in case you missed that,” Jack shouted to Ryan.
Yes. Yes to a great love again, for the second time in her life.
Yes to second chances, yes to loving without holding back, and yes to the God who graced her with more happiness than she could ever deserve.
Epilogue
One year later
Jack pulled up to Tim Whitman’s driveway, and knocked on the front door. The new sheriff’s badge pinned to his shirt gleamed in the sun. He’d come back to the force at a higher rank, but it was still difficult to believe Calhoun had appointed him as interim sheriff until the election. After an old knee injury had permanently sidelined Calhoun from the force just months from his official retirement, he’d asked Jack to take over. He still wasn’t sure he deserved the vote of confidence.
One thing was certain: he didn’t relish coming face to face with Tim Whitman again. The local newspaper had recently announced that he and his wife were now divorced, and that she’d taken Anton and the other children out of the state. Any man in his position might be unhinged, and it meant that Tim might be especially intoxicated.
The neighbors had phoned again, this time complaining of incessant banging at all hours of the night.
Tim opened the door. “What do you want?”
He held a hammer in his hands, and an acrid smell of alcohol clung to his clothes. Great.
“We got a call from your neighbors. Apparently you’re working on a construction project?”
“Is that against the law now?”
Jack sighed. “It’s not against the law, and you of all people know it, but your neighbors would appreciate it if you would keep to the ten o’clock curfew.”
“I’ll just bet you would appreciate that. Maybe make your nice new sheriff job a little easier on you. I have no wife and kids for you to rescue anymore. Do you have a hero complex, officer?”
He was goading him, but Jack was not about to take the bait. There were no longer any brittle edges left. Just a simple, but solid, peace. He had Maggie and his new found faith to thank for that.
“It must be lonely.”
Tim Whitman’s eyes narrowed. “What?”
“Lonely. I said it must be lonely without your kids around.”
Tim raised his brows. “Are you kidding? Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m finally getting some work done around here. What my wonderful neighbors are whining about is the new gazebo I’m building.”
Jack briefly considered what a gazebo built by a drunk might look like.
“If you need help, I know a bit about construction.”
Tim Whitman burst into laughter. “I’d hire a carpenter if I wanted some help.”
Tim certainly had enough money to do it. It made Jack wonder why Tim was spending the small amount of time he had off between high profile cases on a construction project he would very likely not ever finish.
“I’m sure you would. Well, the offer is there.” Jack turned around to head back to his cruiser.
Tim Whitman stared after him. “Sometimes a man just has to work with his hands. Know what I mean?”
