by Katie Reus
“Sweetheart, I don’t want you to freak out. But I just heard that Brad was in some sort of altercation. I…don’t know if he was shot. I heard a gun went off and he’s at the hospital now.”
Fallon’s heart skipped a beat as terror seized her chest. Shot? “I…I’ve got to go. I’ll call you from the hospital.” Not caring how rude it was, she hung up and grabbed her purse off the counter. “Something happened to Brad. My mom thinks he might have been shot. I’m going to the hospital now.” Her words came out like machine gun fire to Nora as she hurried toward the front of the shop.
“Wait! Give me thirty seconds to set the alarm. I’m driving you.”
Fallon wanted to say no, but she was shaking too badly. Brad had called her earlier and said he’d be late picking her up because there had been a last minute call-out.
She didn’t remember getting into Nora’s car, and the drive to the hospital was a blur.
It seemed to take forever as buildings and snow-covered trees and vehicles flew past them. Why weren’t they going faster? Or there yet? The thought of Brad hurt, injured…worse. All the muscles in her body pulled tight and she couldn’t seem to stop trembling.
“We’re almost there. I’m going to pull up to the ER entrance and let you out.” Nora’s voice was soft, soothing, but it sounded like a firecracker going off in the quiet interior.
“Okay,” she rasped out, glad she’d found her voice. Fallon wasn’t sure why she’d always thought she’d be good in a crisis, because she sucked at it.
Once Nora pulled up to the entrance, Fallon had the door open before she’d even stopped. Jumping out, she raced through the main doors—and stopped short to see Brad talking to a doctor. Totally fine. Not shot. Though his uniform was ripped in places.
He smiled in confusion when he saw her, and the most overwhelming rush of emotions swamped her with the equivalent of a tidal wave. She burst into tears, unable to stop them from flowing.
He was alive, and unharmed.
A pair of strong, steady arms surrounded her and though she couldn’t see through the blur of tears, she knew it was Brad holding her. She gripped him tight as he rubbed a steady hand up and down her spine. He murmured words she couldn’t understand, but moments later she found they were in a private, quiet room.
Suddenly lights flooded the room as he flipped a switch and stood back. He led her to a bedside chair and crouched in front of her. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.” Her voice was scratchy as she cupped his cheeks in her hands. “My mom called, said something had happened. That you might have been shot. And my mind just went to DEFCON one. I raced right over here. I thought…” She swallowed hard, forcing back all those crazy tears and emotions she didn’t want to let out again. Not yet, anyway. God, she was such a mess. She’d imagined the absolute worst, reacted like a total freak. But the thought of losing him now, when she’d just discovered him? Her heart twisted painfully and she tightened her grip just a bit on his face, reassuring herself he was alive.
He took her hands in his, held them between the two of them before softly kissing her knuckles. “I was in a brawl. A domestic thing. The husband’s gun went off, but no one was injured. I’m so sorry you were worried.”
“No, don’t be sorry. I guess… I know what you do for a living. I guess I just never thought about the danger. The ins and outs of it.” She’d always thought of it in an abstract sort of way. Like, he put on this uniform, looked all sexy, and went about his day. And that Holly wasn’t a dangerous place. But the truth was, no place was completely safe. That was a simple fact.
His expression was serious as he watched her. “Is this something you’ll be able to handle?”
“Yes. No doubt.” She gave a wry smile, let out a watery laugh. “Clearly today isn’t a good example of that, but I’m in this, Brad. And I don’t care if it’s too soon. I love you. I feel it in my bones. I’ve never felt like this before.”
“I love you too. God, I love you so much.” Moving slowly, watching her intently, he kissed her with an unexpected sweetness that made her want to cry all over again.
Not because she was sad, but because this man was it for her. And she wasn’t letting him go.
Chapter 10
Anticipation hummed through Fallon as she waited in the lobby of the small Holly sheriff station. Brad had gone in to work today, which she shouldn’t have been surprised about since he hadn’t been injured last night. After making a split-second decision to tackle a man holding a gun down by his side, he’d just gotten a little dirty.
She was the one who was shaken up, and maybe he was too, but he sure hadn’t shown it last night. He’d been voracious in bed, to the point she’d finally had to admit she was too exhausted to continue. She had a feeling some of that had been his way of expending all his adrenaline.
Which was a fine way, as far as she was concerned.
While he’d been at work, she’d been taking back control of her life. Unfortunately, her townhome was leased out for the next year, and she’d lost her deposit for the first semester when she’d called to cancel her enrollment at the culinary school, but it was truly as if a weight had been lifted.
She had made the right decision. Of that she had no doubt. Especially after yesterday’s scare. Now she was ready to tell Brad her news. She’d just wanted everything taken care of when she surprised him.
When she started to pace nervously, the administrative assistant, Mrs. Wiggins, glanced up at her. “You planning on sharing what’s in that basket, Fallon O’Connor?”
She stopped midstride and looked at the older woman who’d been with the department forever. “Ma’am?”
“What’s in the basket? It smells delicious.”
“Oh…yes, this is for you. For everyone, actually.” She lifted off the plaid-checked cover of her wicker basket. “Snickerdoodles, limoncello macarons, and berry muffins.” She’d had a busy day getting things in order before coming to see Brad, but had decided to bake to expend more pent-up energy. Baking and cleaning up afterward always made her feel good. “I’ll just leave the basket here and pick it up later this week if that’s okay?”
The older woman gave her a sweet smile. “That is more than fine with me. And the guys are going to have a field day tomorrow.” Pushing back from her desk, she headed over to their coffee station and picked up a small Styrofoam plate. “How’s your mother doing, dear?”
“She’s good. Staying busy—and harassing Nora over when she’ll be popping out grandchildren.” Her mom couldn’t even wait until they were married to start with the nudging.
Mrs. Wiggins giggled as she returned to her desk. “Sounds about right.”
Fallon set the basket on the desk, glanced at the closed door of Brad’s office. Mrs. Wiggins had said he wouldn’t be long. And okay, it had only been five minutes since she’d arrived. She was just nervous about what she had to tell him.
When the door opened, she nearly jumped.
Brad stepped out, looking as sexy as ever. She made a move in his direction but stopped when she saw the mayor coming out with him. Fallon smiled at the other man, exchanged a few polite words before they were alone again. Well, relatively alone.
“Is everything okay?” she murmured as the mayor stepped outside.
Brad nodded, then looked at the basket of goodies. “You make those?”
“Yes. I wanted to bring a treat for you guys.” It had given her something to do when she’d had down time she definitely didn’t want. Not today when she was bursting at the seams, ready to tell Brad her news.
“If this is a perk of you dating Fallon, then you can never break up with her.” Mrs. Wiggins grinned before swiveling toward her computer.
“I don’t plan to,” Brad murmured, his gaze doing that super sexy heated thing as he turned back to her. Warmth spread through her at his words. “Thanks for stopping by.”
They’d originally planned to get together later this evening, but she hadn’t been able to wait. �
��I have something to show you.”
“Is that a euphemism?” he murmured as they headed for the front door of the station.
Mrs. Wiggins cleared her throat. “I’m old, not hard of hearing.”
Fallon watched in fascination as Brad’s cheeks flushed a light shade of pink. “I’ve got something to tell you too.” He grabbed his jacket off the rack by the door. “Make sure you have one of the guys walk you to your car, Martha,” he said over his shoulder as he opened the door for Fallon.
“I always do.”
Fallon knew that one of the deputies would be on call all night. It was the way it worked in small towns. “You can tell me your news while we walk to see my news.”
His gave her a curious look, but wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they stepped out into the icy evening. “I know we haven’t talked about long-term stuff yet, but I called a meeting with the mayor today to let him know that when the next election comes up, I might not be running again. I can’t leave right now, but if you decide you want to stay in California or wherever, I can move too. I don’t want you to feel like—”
In the middle of the sidewalk she pulled him to her, yanking him down by the lapels of his black, county-issued jacket. She pulled back almost immediately, unable to contain her grin. “I seriously love you, sheriff.”
His lips curved up wickedly. “I’m seriously never going to get tired of hearing you say that. And please call me that later tonight.”
“Definitely…now come on.” Bursts of energy lit up inside her as she grabbed his hand. “This way.” She motioned down the little side alley that led to the private strip of parking for the shop owners on Main Street.
When they rounded the corner, she held out her hand at her newly bought—and in serious need of work—food truck. Her brothers were going to help her fix it up. thankfully, because there was only so much she knew how to do on her own.
“This is going to be the food truck for Sugar Rush—eventually. It needs work, clearly.” The red paint was peeling in patches, and revealed it had once been a white truck. All the tires were balding and the interior was rusted out in places. But according to Maguire, it was surface stuff and worth her investment. “I’ve still got a ton of stuff to do like set up a business address, a business bank account, file permits, figure out exactly what commercial kitchen I’ll be using for food prep—but I’m doing this. I’m staying here. And I’m going to be jumping feet first into this business. Which means I’ll probably be a busy mess for a while, but I want to live in the same city as you, wake up to you in the mornings. I didn’t tell you last night because I didn’t want you to think I’d made the decision because of what happened.”
She rushed on before he could respond because she needed to get this all out at once.
“Okay, that sort of spurred me into action. But I was using going to school as a way to delay my real dream of starting my own business. I’ve just been so afraid of failing, but that’s freaking stupid. Yesterday showed me, as cheesy as this sounds, that life is way too short. If I fail, then I’ll try something else.” She pushed out a long breath after her machine gun fire of a confession as he just watched her. Nerves danced along her spine as she waited for him to say something.
His expression softened, showing her the side of him she realized only she got to see. “I love you so much, Fallon. If you change your mind later, I’m still willing to move. I just want to be with you. I love Holly, but I love you more.”
She threw her arms around him at the same time he reached for her. Burying her face against his neck, she inhaled the spicy scent of him as emotion clogged her throat. She had to take a deep breath as excitement for their future hummed through her. She felt lighter than she had in weeks. “Before the inspection, and after it’s been fixed up, we’re so christening that truck.”
His deep laugh reverberated through her as he tightened his hold. “I would expect nothing less. How about we head back to my place and christen another one of the rooms?”
She leaned back to look at him, but kept her arms around him. “Maybe your kitchen this time?”
He just laughed again and crushed his mouth to hers. She had a lot of work in front of her to get where she wanted to be, but she was more than ready for it. Heck, she was excited about it. Especially now that she had someone like Brad in her life and by her side.
* * *
Fallon jumped up onto the kitchen counter next to the stove as Brad flipped an omelet. Even though it was well into the evening, he was cooking for them. And she was pretty sure this was one of the only things he knew how to make.
“Smells good,” she murmured, shifting slightly against the counter, a little tender from their last round of lovemaking. In just one of his T-shirts, she felt perfectly at home here with him. She could be the real her, and she loved that he was the same.
He leaned over, kissed her once before he reached for a bag of shredded cheese. “So…I’ve been thinking. With you staying and being homeless, why not move in with me?” He didn’t look at her as he spoke, as if the question was totally normal.
“Move in here?” She’d never lived with anyone before. Well, she’d had a roommate in college, but she’d never lived with a man.
He lifted a shoulder, his body language so casual when she was freaking out a little. “You’re going to be over here every night anyway.”
She laughed lightly because it was true. “That’s a big step.”
“I’m ready for it.” Simple as that.
Her throat tightened for a moment at the seriousness of this. Moving in with him was a huge deal but it felt beyond right. “I’ll pay for half the groceries and bills.”
“Okay.”
She pushed out a breath, surprised but glad he’d acquiesced so easily. He could be stubborn about some things, she’d learned.
“When do you want me to move in?”
He moved the pan off the hot stove as he turned it off then stepped over so that he was standing in between her open legs. “Immediately,” he murmured. “Most of your stuff is in boxes already so it’ll be easy. And you get half of the walk-in closet.”
She grinned as she wrapped her legs around his waist. “Now you’re talking. You won’t mind my food truck being parked here?”
“No. We can work on it together in the back during our free time.”
Swallowing hard, she brushed her lips over his. “You really are perfect.”
“No, but if that’s what you think, I’ll take it.” He kissed her again with a fierceness she embraced.
The spicy scents of the southwestern omelets filled the air as she pulled him tighter to her, and she had a feeling all that food was going to have to wait.
Chapter 11
Three months later
Brad grinned as Fallon jumped down from the back of her food truck. The actual truck was bright pink with white writing on it, and the awning that popped out over the order window was turquoise with thin white stripes. She’d agonized over the coloring longer than anything else but she’d picked right. No one would ever be able to miss her food truck.
The May Holly Smoke Food Festival was coming to an end and he knew she’d done well today, if the grin on her face was any indication.
“Hey, babe. We almost sold out today.” The “we” referred to Sasha, Nora’s younger sister, who Fallon had hired for the event in case it got busy.
“No surprise there.” He pulled Fallon into his arms, not caring that he’d get powder or sugar or whatever was on her pink apron transferred to his shirt. “Got a long cleanup?”
“It won’t be too bad. The only thing we have left are a few petits fours. But the mini cupcakes, pecan bites, macaroons, and even mini jam jars sold out quickly. And I’m glad we stocked up on extra coffee, because we almost ran out of that too.” Her excitement was infectious as she bounced on her feet. Her auburn hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she had on a ball cap with Sugar Rush’s logo.
“So the ‘mini’ idea was a h
it?” At the last couple festivals he’d noticed that people, especially those with kids, didn’t want plates to carry around. They wanted easy, and bite-sized desserts was as easy as it got.
“Oh yeah, and you’ll get credit for that later,” she murmured.
“And I’ll take it.” Especially after the day he’d had. Unlike her, people weren’t always excited to see the sheriff at these events. He’d had to deal with teenagers trying to steal from vendors, and a couple guys who decided to get drunk and obnoxious. He would never understand how people could do that, especially around families and kids. Sometimes their own kids. “I’ve still got some paperwork to fill out, but I’ll meet you at home?”
“Sounds perfect to me.” She laid her head against his chest, and sighed contentedly. “I’m freaking exhausted, but man, this was a good day.”
He rubbed a hand down her spine, closed his eyes for a long moment. Every day with her was a good day. Since Fallon had come into his life, everything had changed. In ways he hadn’t seen coming. He’d never expected to ask a woman to move in with him as fast as he had Fallon. But he didn’t regret asking her for one second.
He’d figured they were headed that way anyway and he really liked waking up to her every morning. The last few months she’d been incredibly busy getting her business off the ground, figuring out what worked and what didn’t work. He’d even helped out some on his days off, and he loved spending the extra time with her. Not to mention it had put him in more contact with people in the community, which was always a plus. Eventually she’d have to hire someone but for now she was being smart about where her profits went.
“You too tired to head to my dad’s later tonight?” On Sunday nights they had a standing dinner date with him, but tonight Brad had something else planned—he just wasn’t telling Fallon.
She looked up at him. “Nah, but I’m not playing him in chess again.”
Brad snorted. His dad had lost, but “barely” as he’d put it. “He’s itching for a rematch.”