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I smile. Big. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Yeah, maybe I am.”
We both go quiet.
“Um, I wanted to tell you I’m resigning as the sheriff.”
My head is already spinning from Fred’s news. Now this? “Oh wow.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right. It’s a bit too… much.”
“I’m sorry, Rory, that must have been a difficult choice.”
He smiles with a big inhale, rolling his head back.
“What?”
“I’m sorry, I just can’t help but feel different when you call me Rory instead of McEvoy.”
My heart thumps. “I feel the same. About my name, that is.” Gosh, I might have told him no, but my heart hasn’t given up on him. Not at all. “So you’re going back to Chicago, then?” A mass exodus from Horace between the Fredericksons and Rory…
“Um, no, no. I’m staying.”
I can’t believe my ears. “What?”
Rory keeps his eyes in mine. A long stare. Meaningful. “I’m staying, Constance.”
“What are you going to do?”
Rory crosses his arms over his chest, idles his hips to the side. I’ve missed his long, solid fame. “Well, I’m thinking about starting my own business. Private investigation. I think I have a knack for it.”
I nod. “Not a bad idea.”
“Of course, I’ll need some backup once in a while,” he says with a look my way.
“I’ll be happy to oblige,” I reply.
His chest collapses with relief. “Good. That’s good.”
A moment passes. “Why would you do that? Stay, I mean.”
“Because I like it here. Because I want to be here. Because I’d like to build a life here. And I know you said ‘no’ the first time, but I’d like you to be a part of that,” Rory says.
It’s as though my entire body is sinking toward gravity. I’m giving up. All the tension, all the resistance. Dash away the facts and the figures, the rights and the wrongs. My gut is pulling me toward him. That’s the truth.
“I don’t want you to think I’m being pushy. But the past week without you has been—” He ruffles his dark hair. “I’ve missed you. I know that’s crazy, but?—”
“When you know, you know, Connie.”
I throw my arms around his neck and press my lips to his in an answer, an echo. I’ve missed him. I want him. It might be ridiculous, but it’s right. Everything about this moment is right.
After the initial gasp of shock, Rory puts his hands to my waist.
The kiss ebbs and though I could kiss him again and again, I let it so I can take a look into his eyes, make sure that I didn’t do something wrong.
“Wow,” he says with a lopsided smile.
“I’ve gone over the facts and figures. And now I know—I want to be with you.”
