by Jenna Night
Bryan Torrent had been treated for the punches he’d taken and was now seated in the back of an idling patrol car. Sheriff Wolfsinger was walking around in the canyon making sure that all the forensic documentation was being done correctly.
Once Lily had warmed up inside a patrol car she’d been reluctant to leave the crime scene. Turned out Nate felt the same way. They both wanted to see this thing wrapped up, see Bryan Torrent driven away in a patrol car and know it was all over. When Lily got out of the patrol car and she and Nate walked over to lean against Elijah’s truck, Jonathan had thoughtfully made himself scarce. Elijah was off talking to a few members of Vanquish the Darkness, who’d showed up in case their help was needed.
Lily was also waiting around because she didn’t want her time with Nate to come to an end. Even though their relationship had formed under the worst of circumstances, she had come to love being around Nate. She was used to seeing him every day. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye and head back down to her mom’s house in Copper Mesa alone.
During their last conversation driving into Painted Rock, she’d tried to tell Nate how she felt about him. About them. She’d fished around to see if he thought they might possibly have a future together. But he was still so uncertain about having a family life, so edgy when she tried to talk about it, that it started to seem like the best way she could show her appreciation for all he’d done would be to just leave him alone. She knew in her heart he would always look out for her and protect her. That he would drop everything and come to her rescue if she ever asked. Maybe she should be happy with that.
No, she wouldn’t be happy with just that. And she wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily.
“So, you were just going to rush up into the canyon and rescue me single-handed?” she asked, nudging him with her elbow and then looking at him.
A charmingly self-conscious grin spread across his swollen face. “If I had to, yes.”
He almost hadn’t arrived in time. Torrent was just about to shoot Lily and push her in the water when he’d heard noises. Afraid his gunshots would give away his location to anyone who might be searching for Lily, he’d hit her and knocked her down instead, threatened to kill her if she made a sound or tried to get away. Then he’d hidden among the trees until Nate showed up.
“You’re going to be bored when you go back to your normal life,” she teased.
“I don’t know.” He reached up and touched his swollen cheek. “It’s kind of nice to go through a day without getting smacked in the face with a tree branch.”
“Yeah, but what about the rest of it? Aren’t you going to miss that?”
The sound of a dog barking caught their attention and Deputy Rios walked up with Bubba. They’d been the first to arrive after Jonathan called in their location and they’d found Torrent’s car.
“Glad to see you’re both in good shape,” she said as she smiled at them. “I’ve been wanting to get over here and chat with you for a while, but you know how it is. Got to take care of business.”
“I understand,” Nate said. “We’ve both given our statements a couple of times.” Then he reached out and gave Rios a playful punch on the arm. “Thanks for showing up.”
The deputy shrugged. “What if you’d gotten killed out here and your replacement was even more obnoxious than you are? I wouldn’t want to get stuck working with someone like that.”
Nate grinned. “Good thinking.”
“Well, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m still on duty,” Rios said. “So I’ll see ya.”
Rios and Bubba sauntered away and Nate turned to Lily, reaching down to take each of her hands in his. “So, I think we were talking about getting back to normal life when we were interrupted.”
Lily looked up at him. It was starting to snow a little harder, the flakes swirling and landing on the brim of his cowboy hat. Her heart began to melt at the touch of his hands and the warmth in his eyes.
“I’ve been an idiot,” he said.
“No argument there,” she joked.
Nate shook his head. “Please, can you let me finish?” He cleared his throat. “I’ve spent a lot of years keeping my distance from people. Figuring if I even tried to have a family I wouldn’t know what to do and I’d just mess it up.” He took a breath, started again. “Look, there’s a lot I’ve figured out but I don’t know how to say it. Normal life for me was to be on my own. To try and control as much as I could and when it came to my personal life, to play it safe. But I realize now I don’t want normal anymore.” He looked into her eyes. “I want you.”
Lily grinned. “I don’t want normal, either.”
“I never meant to fall in love with you.” He reached out to brush his fingertips across her forehead and tuck her disheveled hair behind her ear. “But I did. I love you, Lily Doyle.”
Lily felt her grin slowly dissolve. She had fallen in love with him, too. But she hadn’t realized how hard or how deeply she’d fallen until this very moment. “I love you, too.”
Nate moved closer and leaned down toward her.
“Nate! Good work.” Sheriff Wolfsinger strode up to them. “Lily.” He touched the brim of his cowboy hat and nodded.
Lily nodded back, trying to be friendly when she really wanted him to go away so she could get back to her conversation with Nate.
“Well, Bryan Torrent hasn’t told us any details of the cargo-theft operation he told you about,” he said, glancing at Lily. “But he might decide he wants to eventually. Now that we’ve got four of these lowlifes in custody we can start looking at their phone records, where they’ve traveled, what they’ve bought.” He turned his attention to Nate. “This will give the task force a lot to work with. We’ll break them down eventually.”
“We will,” Nate agreed, nodding.
Sheriff Wolfsinger looked back at Lily. “Now that this has blown open, I doubt we have to worry about you anymore. Whatever those guys were talking about the night you overheard them is obsolete information by now. I think the point of killing you was to make sure no one knew about Torrent’s connection to what happened to you, about his connection to the ongoing cargo thefts across the state, or about the organized crime link to his trucking company. All of that will be the top news story across the region by morning. I’ll make sure of it.”
“That’s a relief,” Lily said. “Thank you.”
Wolfsinger nodded and then his phone rang. He sighed and put it up to his ear as he turned and walked toward his patrol car.
Nate grabbed Lily around her waist and pulled her close for a kiss, his lips warm in the cool air and his touch strong and gentle. Lily sighed and felt her whole body relax against his. It felt like going home.
They heard the exaggerated sound of someone clearing his throat. This time it was Jonathan. “Hey, lovebirds, sorry to interrupt.”
Nate glared at him.
Jonathan grinned back. “The weatherman says we’ve got a pretty good snowstorm headed this way so this might be a good time to pack up and head out.”
“But you’ll have to plan on staying in your old rooms at our ranch tonight,” Elijah added as he walked up. “My mom insists. And you know she cooks when she’s worried. Apparently there’s enough food at the house to feed an army.” He and Jonathan got into the front seats of his truck. Nate pulled open the door to the backseat. Lily climbed in and he got in after her.
Inside the truck, Nate reached for Lily’s hand. After giving it a gentle squeeze, he lifted it up and brushed his lips across her knuckles. Then he brought her hand to his chest until it rested above his heart. “I’m never letting go of you,” he said quietly, as Elijah started the truck’s engine and Jonathan made a call on his phone.
Lily couldn’t see Nate’s face very well in the dim light, but she heard the vulnerability in his voice and felt tears begin to form in the corne
rs of her eyes. She thought about everything he’d been through since he was a child, and how much courage it took for him to open his heart to her.
“Don’t worry,” she said softly, squeezing his hand just a little bit tighter. “I’m never letting go of you, either.”
EPILOGUE
Six months later
“I can’t stop thinking about that cake,” Nate said. He stole a quick glance at the pink box on the bench seat of his truck and then turned to Lily. He smiled at her and she felt the surface of her skin warm. “Maybe we could just pull over and eat it,” he said. “We could grab a replacement cake from the grocery store.”
They’d spent the early afternoon at the wedding photographer’s studio in Copper Mesa. As soon as they’d left the studio, Ellen had texted Nate and asked him to pick up a cake she’d ordered at a small bakery in town. It was a chocolate ganache–covered confection perfect for the barbecue dinner Ellen had planned for tonight. She’d insisted on giving them an engagement dinner and agreed to keep it small and intimate.
“If we’d taken my car, there’d be forks in the glove box and we could dig in right now,” Lily said.
It was so good to spend time with Nate just driving around, doing simple, everyday things like running errands. With nobody trying to kill them.
In the last few months they’d both been working hard, Nate with law enforcement duties and Lily with her job at the catering company, which, surprisingly, had turned into a full-time job. She’d been able to pay off her debt and get a little money saved. There were several nice cafés in Painted Rock. Once she and Nate got married and she moved up there, she should be able to find a job fairly easily. Maybe even open her own place one day.
Nate made the turn onto the road to the Blue Spruce Ranch and then a short time later he reached the ranch entrance. Balloons and streamers were tied to the stone pillars. Nate’s big orange cat sat beneath one of the balloons, looking up as if he was trying to figure out a way to grab the thing.
“Wow, Ellen really went all out for our dinner party,” Lily said as Nate steered his truck up the drive.
Nate reached for her hand and squeezed it.
And then Lily’s eye caught a glimpse of shiny metal. Farther up the drive, a row of motorcycles were parked with military precision. “Looks like some riders from Vanquish the Darkness are here,” she said.
Nate gave her a puzzled look. “Yeah, I recognize Elijah’s bike.”
Smiling, Lily crossed her arms over her chest. “I think this is going to be something more than the small party Ellen promised.” No wonder Ellen’s friend, Belinda, had fiddled around for so long finishing up the cake they’d been sent to pick up. It had been an excuse to keep them away from the ranch.
“Well, two can play at that game.” Nate pulled over onto a patch of dirt. “Let’s park down here, sneak up and surprise them.”
“Great idea.”
They got out. Lily carried the cake. They tried to be stealthy, but they were quickly caught by two alert canine sentries.
“Hey, little mosquito dogs,” Nate greeted Abby and Beatrice when they ran around the corner of the house and barreled straight toward them.
Lily glanced around. “Mom must be nearby.”
Nate bent down to pet Beatrice. Abby stayed back, as usual. And then finally she came forward and let him pet her.
Nate picked up both dogs. They looked even tinier in his big hands. Both girls wagged their tails and were clearly happy to be held by Nate.
Lily knew the feeling.
“Guess this means you’re finally, officially welcomed into the family,” she said to Nate. His tough exterior might not have changed since the night they’d first crossed paths at the Starlight Mart, but these days he trusted her enough to let her see the sweeter emotions behind it.
They walked around the corner of the house. At first, no one saw them. Lily’s gaze swept across the beautiful late-spring lawn, where lots of friends and family were gathered. Kids and dogs ran around. Steaks sizzled on a grill. Lily’s mom stood chatting with Elijah and Olivia Morales. A little farther away, Crystal Rios and Gaston were walking out of the stables, Bubba trotting behind them.
And sitting at a beautifully decorated table with Bud and Ellen were Joseph Suh’s parents and his sister, Joanna. The Suhs had no idea how much their compassion and the goodness of their son had worked to complete Lily’s life. She would make a point of going over and telling them. Joseph Suh’s kind heart was still bringing about good in the world even after he was gone.
“You know,” Lily said, “over the last few months there were so many times I thought I was at a dead end. Literally, when people were pointing guns at me and trying to kill me. But even before that, when I made stupid decisions and I couldn’t see how there was a plan for my life. I was certain I’d messed everything up beyond repair. I’m so glad I was wrong.” She turned to Nate, her eyes starting to tear up a little.
Nate just stared at her, still holding the dogs.
“Well,” she finally demanded, starting to get annoyed, “what do you think?”
He glanced at the crowd, then at the pink box still in her hands, and raised his eyebrows. “I think we’re going to need a bigger cake.”
She rolled her eyes and made a scoffing sound, at which point he leaned down to kiss her. The dogs squirmed in his hands.
Somebody let out a loud whoop. It sounded like Bud. A whistle came from Gaston’s direction. Leaning back from Nate’s kiss, Lily felt her face burn. But she also felt herself smile.
The guests started applauding. Nate set down the dogs, reached for Lily’s hand and squeezed it. “Guess it’s time to face this unruly crowd together.”
“Yep.” Lily squeezed his hand in return and grinned. “Let me show you how it’s done.”
* * * * *
If you loved this story, don’t miss Jenna Night’s first heartstopping romance
LAST STAND RANCH
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Keep reading for an excerpt from DEADLY MEMORIES by Mary Alford.
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Dear Reader,
Looking ahead in life isn’t always easy. Especially when there are things in your past that you wish you could fix or change.
Deputy Nate Bedford worried that his tragic and unstable childhood left him without the resources to be a good father. Yet those very experiences gave him the compassion and drive to help others. Lily Doyle made some unwise decisions and was tempted to believe her life was ruined beyond repair. But in the process of recovering from her mistakes, she was reminded that we don’t have to be perfect people to be worthy of love.
With God’s grace and the help of family and good friends, we find we can keep moving forward even when we think we can’t. I hope when you face difficult times you’ll press on in faith and keep on going one step at a time.
You can find me at my website, Jennanight.com. Or at my Jenna Night page on Facebook. I retweet my fair share of cute animal pictures on Twitter @Night_Jenna. Or if you feel so inclined, shoot me an email at [email protected]. I’d love to hear from you.
Jenna Night
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Deadly Memories
by Mary Alford
ONE
They were coming. She could hear them arguing as they neared. After all these years, they still didn’t have a clue she spoke fluent Dari.
Ella listened closely. The reality of what they said threatened to crush her. It was the last thing she expected. They were planning to kill her.
What had changed in the past twenty-four hours? Alhasan’s orders had been clear yesterday. The men were to escort her to the location. She was being transported to the United States. She had a job to do. As long as she did it, he would let her live...along with the child.
The American. He’d visited her prison cell a handful of times, and in spite of Alhasan’s bragging, Ella believed he was the real person in charge. He’d spoken like someone who wielded a lot of power when he’d made it clear to Alhasan that he didn’t believe she would follow through with her orders in spite of Alhasan’s assurances.
If he’d ordered her death, where did that leave Joseph? She couldn’t think about what might happen to the child and not go crazy, and she couldn’t lose it. Joseph’s life depended on it.