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A knock sounded on the bathroom door. “Wiz, it’s me,” Tom called. “Are you okay?”
“No.” She put her head in her hands.
“Can you get dressed and come out here, please.”
She did, not even caring the clothes were two sizes too big and her hair was still soaking wet. She opened the door, and Tom flung his arms out. “Come here, I got you.”
She stepped into him and bawled her eyes out again. Tom cradled her gently, turning her and pulling her in tight. He held her on his lap, rocking her and running a towel over her hair. “Better?”
She nodded against his chest, too tired to cry more.
“Want to join everyone or just go over to the apartment?” His voice rumbled through her, comfortingly.
“I’m okay. We can join everyone else.”
“You sure? They understand you had a really bad day.”
“I’m okay.” Wiz looked up at him. “And I’m done hiding.”
“That’s my girl.” He lifted her from his lap, then stood and looked down at her. “You sure? It gets to be too much, Erin’s already given me the keys and the codes. They’ll understand.”
“It’s okay. Let’s go have that drink.”
He smiled down at her and took her hand. She squeezed it for a moment, then let go to gather her weapons. The cops were going to want both of them, so she’d have to get another one, and she probably wouldn’t be able to get to her safe. Well, Tom and Dad had theirs, but she wanted one of her own.
They entered the living room, Erin waiting for them. “Wiz, I’ll put all your clothes in a bag. The police are going to want your weapons, so you can borrow mine. I have a backup, and Ryan’s got his, so we’ll be fine.” Erin pointed to a black semi-auto pistol on the coffee table, two magazines sitting by it.
“Thanks, Erin. And thanks for everything else.” She was so lucky to have such wonderful friends.
“Nothing you wouldn’t do for me.” She nodded at the couch. “Have a seat. I’ll get you beer and water, and there’s pizza coming. Pete’s upstairs, said he needed a nap worse than food.” Her mouth compressed for a moment. “We could sit outside, but the smoke is blowing over here.”
“Thanks, Erin.” Tom guided her to the couch and sat, tucking her in next to him. Ryan was on the chair at the far end, and he raised his beer toward her in a salute.
Wiz turned to Tom. “Is Dad doing okay with this? He didn’t have to kill anybody, but...” Tom nodded to Ryan.
Ryan grimaced. “Pete and me talked a little while you two were in the shower. He’s more concerned about you, but he promised to talk about this with his buddies.” He shrugged. “I think he’ll be okay. But maybe ask him to do a joint counseling session?”
Tom squeezed her shoulder. “Good idea. Wiz, you can talk him into that, I’m sure. Just say it’s for you.” She nodded and relaxed into him again.
Erin brought them beers and waters, then sat, holding her bottle up. “Here’s to survival.”
They clinked bottles, a water glass in Wiz’s case, and drank. “Survival and living well. It really is the best revenge.”
“Amen to that.” Erin rose and went to the patio. Ryan raised his bottle to Wiz again and drank. She relaxed into the comfort of Tom’s embrace. She’d done it. She’d survived everything they’d thrown at her, and now, she was going to live life to the fullest. No more hiding or being scared. No, she was going to live every minute like it was the last and never look back again.
And she would start tonight. She yawned. Well, okay, maybe tomorrow; as soon as she got some food into her, she was going to crash. But tomorrow morning, nothing was going to hold her back from celebrating life with Tom to the very fullest. It was time to show him just how much she loved him in every way possible. She took another sip, squeezed his thigh, and smiled up at him.
He smiled back, sweetly, and kissed her. She heard Ryan get up and go to the patio, but she really didn’t care if he saw them. She was safe, and she had Tom, the love she’d looked for all her life. She was the luckiest woman in the entire universe.
Epilogue
Wiz rocked comfortably in the saddle on the horse in front of Tom. She’d taken to trail riding like a cow to corn. These days, she took to everything with happy enthusiasm. She’d changed so much from their first meeting, just over a year ago. She turned and smiled at him. He mouthed “love you” and she promptly returned the sentiment. Then she twisted back, paying attention to the trail winding through the beautiful Anaconda-Pintler mountains.
After their backcountry trip, they’d start pre-wedding counseling for an early December ceremony. Wiz had wanted to do it sooner, but he’d asked her to wait. She was changing her life so fast, determined to enjoy every second, and take every opportunity to do something new and different, but he suggested she needed to catch her breath and enjoy the ride. Wiz seemed to think the opposite—that he needed the time—but the end result was the same.
Despite Montana’s favorable laws, it had taken too long for the wheels of justice to turn. While Wiz’s actions were investigated, she’d struggled between determination to enjoy her life, guilt, and terror. Anticipating the last, he’d asked her to stay in the ranch house while they got her house cleaned. Exhausted by fixing her house, working the ranch and her business, she’d fallen to sleep easily, but he’d rocked her through nightmares at least once a night for a couple of weeks. Therapy and the comfort of family had worked wonders, but after a month, Wiz had needed a little space and moved back into her house. While they officially lived separately, they almost always ended up in the same house every evening.
Wiz was eventually cleared of all wrongdoing, but Sam had been right, the aftermath of the incident had been very difficult. Initially, someone had put a significant amount of money and effort into painting Wiz as a crazed, gun-toting vigilante. They’d had to hire a security firm to guard the ranch road, and even Sam needed a bodyguard during the trial. The State police shooed paparazzi with telephoto lenses trying to take pictures from the verge of the highway, but local law enforcement wasn’t very responsive. Even though Wiz’s attacker wasn’t a real deputy sheriff—he’d bought the uniform online—the state had still run the investigation. Even though he initially agreed, the Sheriff had deeply resented the state’s intrusion, especially when they expanded the scope unexpectedly. The state found several inadequately-investigated cases and some reports that hadn’t been looked into at all. The Sheriff claimed lack of personnel and funding made it impossible to do everything. In the end, only some retraining was required. But still, any requests for assistance from Wiz or the Rocking B dropped into a black hole.
