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Dezi rode on the back of Grimm’s ATV back down to where Chad had parked the trailer. Exhausted, she climbed into Grimm’s truck. Grimm got in behind the steering wheel and set the truck in motion.
The day shifted into dusk as they drove down the mountain and hit the road heading into Eagle Rock.
The meeting with Cassie at the sheriff’s station was emotionally draining but hopeful. Cassie would have the state crime lab collect evidence in the chamber where Dezi had found the sweatsuit jacket.
Though she hadn’t liked feeling like a rat caught in a dark maze in the mine, Dezi was thankful everything had worked out the way it had, minus the death of her uncle. If she hadn’t followed his clues, and if Eugene hadn’t trapped them in the mine, she wouldn’t have found Penny’s jacket and come to the conclusion that Penny had made it to Montana.
Back at the lodge, Molly met her and Grimm and hugged them both with tears in her eyes. “I’m so glad you two are all right. Cassie just called and told me you found Penny’s jacket in the mine. I’m happy and sick all at once.”
Dezi hugged Molly again. “I know. She’s been here all this time, and we didn’t know.”
“We’re going to find her and bring her home,” Molly said. “We are.”
“I’m going to get a shower and then sleep until tomorrow morning,” Dezi said.
“I’ll be up in a few minutes to check on you,” Grimm said.
She nodded and left them there to go wash the dank mine smell off her skin and hair. When she was finished, she put on her prettiest nightgown and waited for Grimm to show up.
A few minutes sitting in bed were a few too long. She fell asleep before Grimm came up.
When she woke in the middle of the night, alone in her bed, her chest ached with longing for the man who’d been by her side from day one.
After tossing and turning for another fifteen minutes, she threw the blankets to the side and got out of bed. He was only a few feet away, but it felt like a chasm stood between them.
Dezi wasn’t going to let that happen. Not after all they’d been through.
Dressed in her skimpy baby doll nightgown, she flung open her bedroom door and walked into a wall of muscle.
Arms came up around her waist to steady her, and she looked up into Grimm’s face.
“I thought you’d never wake up,” he said.
“Why didn’t you come to me?” she asked.
“Your door was locked. I knocked. You didn’t hear it. Apparently, you needed to sleep.” He grinned. “But you’re awake now. Want some company?”
“Yes, sir.” She grabbed his shirt and pulled him through the door. “I missed you.”
“It feels really strange, but I missed you, too.” He kissed the tip of her nose and captured her lips in a bone-melting kiss. “You’ve shown me so much in such a short time.”
“Like?”
“The way you love unconditionally and accept people as they are, has shown me how to love.” He stared down into her eyes. “You make me want to try. But if I ever lift a hand against you, I want you to turn and run as fast as you can and never come back.”
She cupped his cheek and smiled up into his eyes. “You never will. And I’m going to be right by your side as long as you’ll have me.”
“That could be a very long time. I’m thinking forever isn’t long enough.”
Her smile widened. “Sounds good to me. Now, make love to me like forever is only the beginning.
EPILOGUE
Two weeks later…
The teamof former special operations specialists who’d gone into deconstruction and construction, sat around a table at the recently re-opened Lucky Lady Lodge’s bar, discussing the changes they’d accomplished that day in their work to restore the old hotel to its former glory.
“Demolition is almost complete. Only one more section of rooms remains on the side of the hill that had been damaged. They still need to be gutted to see what changes should be made to keep leaks from happening.” Drake sat with his fingers entwined behind the back of his neck. “We need to tread lightly and keep the noise down during the hours the guests would be using the building’s facilities.”
