“Don’t say that.” She glanced at him, her face creased as though she were in pain.
“Why not? It’s the truth.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is.” He reached out and tugged her hair, just like he had so many times before. She swatted his hand away, but he was ready for that and captured her fingers in his. “Come here, please?” He tugged on her hand.
She twisted around, crossing her legs, and faced him. So serious, his Sarah.
“Things aren’t going to be easy. Neither of us can go back. We can’t do what we were doing before, but…it doesn’t mean things are just over. We’re stuck with each other for a bit, and maybe…maybe you aren’t okay with that, but I am. I’ve spent a lot of my life trying to tell myself to feel some other way about you, and I can’t. There is no way you would ever come in anywhere else other than first for me. You’re the top of my list.”
Sarah sniffled and she squinted at him, deep lines marring her brow. Was that the wrong thing to say? How did he fix this?
Shit, Matt was going to kill him…
Sarah pitched forward, spilling into his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck. He dragged her across his thighs, holding onto her.
“I’m sorry?” he said and laughed.
Sarah sputtered a laugh against his neck. She cupped his cheek and looked up at him, a million different things swirling in the depths of her eyes. “Shut up and kiss me, okay?”
“Okay.”
He pulled her closer and gently pressed his lips to hers. There were so many things in life he didn’t do well, regular, normal people stuff. Telling the woman of his dreams he’d been in love with her his whole life rated pretty high up the not-prepared-for list, but for Sarah, he’d do it. He’d try to be the man she needed.
“I love you, Rand,” she said against his mouth. “I don’t know what that means or where we’re going, but I love you.”
Those were the best words he’d ever heard. Rand leaned in and captured her sigh, squeezing her even tighter.
“Come on, you two,” Matt growled.
Sarah tensed in Rand’s arms, and he peered over her head at Matt. He gestured behind him at the stairs, where a very small pair of eyes watched them.
“At least be civilized adults and close the GD door.” Matt huffed and tugged the door shut.
Sarah buried her face against his shoulder and Rand grinned.
Their lives weren’t perfect, hell, they weren’t even normal, but they had each other—and that was the most important thing on his list.
Epilogue
A month later
Mitch scaled the stairs to the apartment on the third floor.
This was utterly ridiculous, and yet without her, he’d likely be eating lead right about now. The investigation into Charlie was slinging shit all over him, and without Irene and Carol in his corner, Mitch was pretty sure he’d have been hung out to dry. He owed her more than he could ever repay her for.
Mitch knocked on the door. This was stupid. He should leave the flowers and go. That way he could say they’d been a delivery.
The door swung open and Irene stood there. Unlike most days, she wasn’t wearing the severe suit. Yoga pants and a tunic shirt made her seem…more feminine. Approachable.
“Mitch?” Her brows lifted.
“Um, hi. Irene. I…wanted to say thank you. Again.” He held out the bouquet.
“Oh.” She took the flowers and blinked at them. “These are…nice. Um, but I’m headed to the airport.”
“You are?”
“Yes.”
“When are you coming back?” He had another session with the director on Monday. He was counting on Irene being in his corner.
“Don’t worry.” She chuckled and nodded inside the apartment. “I need to go check on my sister, if my cab ever gets here.” She frowned at the clock.
A small suitcase and coat sat by the door.
“I could…um, take you if you like?” Mitch wanted to bolt, but that would be the coward’s way out. The way of his father and brothers. Mitch wanted to be someone better. Someone who did the right thing.
“That’s awfully far out of your way.” She checked her cell phone.
“Please?” A ride to the airport was the least of what he could do. “Let me do something useful. The flowers were a bust.”
“If you don’t mind. I’m cutting it close.”
“Sure. Here, let me.” He picked up the suitcase and held the door for her.
She locked her door, and he led the way down to his car. In a matter of minutes, they were on the road headed for the airport.
“Where you going?” Mitch asked to fill the silence.
“My sister’s recovering from treatment at a hospital in Switzerland. I’m doing a quick in-and-out trip to check on her.”
“Switzerland?” Mitch glanced at Irene’s serene face. Nothing shook her, not what they’d been through or this. “Is she…okay?”
“She’s going to be.” Irene smiled in a way he’d never seen before. It was warm. Nice. And he wanted to see it again.
“I’ve never heard you talk about your sister.”
“I don’t.”
“Oh.”
“It’s…nothing personal. Just…”
Mitch glanced at Irene, relaxed, out of her work clothes. Things clicked into place. She was always the one-woman army. A stone wall. An immovable force.
“I get it,” he mumbled.
One of the things he admired about her was her strength under fire. Her determination to do what was right, even when it put her at odds with the others. That woman and the one in his car were two different creatures, and the same.
In a similar light, he avoided any and all connections with his family. The election campaign was picking up. Soon his father, Senator Fowler, would gear up for his run at the presidency. Most people didn’t care about bastard kids these days, but the President of the United States was held to another level. The court of public opinion would be an unforgiving thing.
“You should give the flowers to Carol. I know she could use a pick-me-up.”
“Hmm? Oh. Right.”
He glanced at the bouquet sitting on the center console between them.
Carol deserved his gratitude as well, but she wasn’t the woman he wanted to give flowers to.
Irene wasn’t a flowers kind of woman. What had he been thinking? He hadn’t. He’d seen them and decided he wanted a reason to see her, since she’d taken off after lunch.
His thoughts were a chaotic mess all the way to the airport. Irene was in enough of a crunch to make her flight that he pulled up to the curb instead of walking her in. Not that she seemed to need assisting, he just…wanted to be there for her.
Mitch pulled her suitcase out of his trunk and pulled the handle up for her
“Thanks for the ride,” Irene said.
“Next time, let me know ahead of time and maybe I can buy you lunch before your trip.”
“Hopefully the next one I make will be to bring Anna home.” Irene smiled that smile again.
“I’d like to meet your sister.”
“I think she’d like you.” Irene tilted her head to the side.
“Maybe Anna could put in a good word for me with her sister?”
“Careful. Anna’s the mean one.”
“Dang. I guess I’ll just have to ask Anna’s sister if she wants to have dinner on my own then.”
“Anna’s sister likes steak.”
“I cook a mean steak.”
“Bye, Mitch.” Irene shook her head and turned, pulling the suitcase behind her.
He watched her go, uncertain about the shift he’d felt.
Irene was a remarkable woman, and he was smart enough to recognize her now that he’d seen past the mask she wore for the rest of the world.
…
Rand sat cross-legged on the carpeted floor while baby Jonah crawled over his lap.
“You’re so good with kids.” Julie
perched on the sofa, cooing at the infant.
“Jillian, eat.” Sarah pointed at the sole plate left on the table after dinner before returning to the living room. “Sorry, Emily is so sick and I had to do something to help her get better.”
“No, no, family first, dear. You have the most adorable niece and nephew.” Julie wiggled her fingers at Jonah, but the baby was far more interested in the buttons on Rand’s shirt. “I suppose we should talk work, shouldn’t we?”
Rand didn’t need to see Sarah to know she’d winced. This was the talk she’d been dreading for the last couple of weeks.
“I’m guessing my probation is over?” Sarah’s tone was defeated. She was certain that after all the questions they couldn’t answer, the only possible answer was to can her.
“Yes, we’ve finished our investigation.” Julie relaxed back into the sofa that’d come with the furnished apartment.
Rand kept his focus on Jonah and his expression neutral.
“Let’s be frank, can we?” Julie asked.
“Please,” Sarah said.
“People who do what we do, we have to pick sides. In the future, please ensure that at least someone is…aware? I won’t pretend I didn’t realize Wishing Well has had preferential treatment because of the kinds of favors you’ve performed. This is one of those you-scratch-my-back-I-scratch-your-back scenarios. If, in the end, that means more good happens, I believe I speak for everyone when I say that it’s fine by us.”
“Seriously?” Sarah’s voice was wound tight.
“Yes,” Julie replied with a smile. “We were thinking you could assist, for now, in our U.S. outreaches. There are several regions with subpar or completely deplorable water conditions.”
Rand tuned the rest of the talk out. For him, wherever Sarah went, he’d go, too. He didn’t care so much as where they went so long as they were together.
Remaining in the States would give them some added protection. He had a dozen different contacts who could help them here, not so much if they went to a region he was unfamiliar with. By all accounts, it was slow going wrapping up Charlie’s death. Still, both he and Sarah seemed to have fallen off anyone’s radar, save for their families and Wishing Well.
Julie and Sarah continued to talk logistics and terms. None of which mattered to him. He’d once thought he couldn’t be happier anywhere but in the field.
Boy, had he been wrong.
Coming home, regaining not just his family but his relationship with the Collinses as well, he’d found a piece of himself he’d thought was gone forever. He still wasn’t precisely the guy who settled down with a white picket fence, but he could be someday. Hector and his country still needed him, but these days, they’d only get him after Sarah.
She came first.
Rand took over putting the two kids to bed, a new thing for him, and by the time Jillian finally closed her eyes, Julie was gone and he had Sarah all to himself.
“What do you think about staying Stateside for a bit?” she asked.
“I think there’s a lot of opportunity for the right kind of work. Especially with an active mole still.”
“Have you talked to Hector yet?”
“No, but I need to now.” He gestured at the information Julie had left behind.
“Irene’s gone for the weekend, but I can follow up with her on Monday.” Sarah turned toward him, twining her arms around his neck. “Kids asleep?”
“Dead to the world.”
“Good, I’ve got a list for you.” Sarah grinned.
“Let me at it.”
Rand kissed her, something he’d never tire of. Their future might still be uncertain, but they’d always have each other.
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About the Author
It can never be said that NYT and USA Today Bestselling author Sidney Bristol has had a “normal” life. She is a recovering roller derby queen, former missionary, tattoo addict, and board game enthusiast. She grew up in a motor-home on the US highways (with an occasional jaunt into Canada and Mexico), traveling the rodeo circuit with her parents. Sidney has lived abroad in both Russia and Thailand, working with children and teenagers. She now lives in Texas where she spends her time writing, reading, hunting Pokemon, playing board games, and catering to her furry overlords, aka the cats.
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