Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 110360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
But I also trusted him.
So as the room swirled around us, I closed my eyes and thought of those moments in the barn.
The quiet ones before the world woke up.
The ones where Devon was always waiting for me.
The ones where we just got to exist together, two people falling madly in love that never even should have crossed paths.
One minute passed.
Devon showering in the wash rack.
Two minutes passed.
Devon throwing that lead rope over his shoulder.
Three minutes passed.
Devon smiling at me as he collected feed buckets.
Four minutes passed.
My phone lit up with an incoming call.
Devon’s number.
A video call.
My hands were shaking so badly I nearly dropped it, but I managed to answer.
Devon’s face immediately filled the screen. Beautifully, entirely, impossibly safe.
And sitting on his hip, backpack still strapped to both shoulders, face streaked with dried tears, but completely, miraculously alive… Zoey.
“Hey, Tofton.”
Devon
Jude’s car hadn’t fully stopped in front of the warehouse when the back doors flew open.
Brooke was already out of the car, so I set Zoey on her feet, and she took off running to her mother.
Brooke dropped to her knees and caught her, and the sound that came out of both of them when they collided was the kind that came straight from the soul.
Brooke sank down to the pavement, frantically searching her daughter for any possible injury.
She wouldn’t find any, at least not physically, because I’d already checked her myself.
Lofton moved toward them. She didn’t reach or interfere. She just stood there with her arms at her sides and let that reunion happen between the two people who needed it most.
If I hadn’t already been in love with her, that would have been the moment I fell. It was one of the most graceful things I had ever watched anyone do in the middle of such emotional upheaval.
When Brooke finally tipped her head back to catch her eye, Lofton shot her a wink, stroked over the top of Zoey’s hair, and then turned and walked straight into me.
No preamble. No words. She just walked into my chest, face first.
I wrapped both arms around her, and her whole body sagged as if she were no longer able to support her own weight.
“Are you okay?” she asked, my chest.
“Better now.”
She nodded, tears soaking through my shirt. “Leo?”
I glanced across the parking lot. Leo was standing in the distance near the police tape, talking to two detectives with his hands in his pockets. Cool, casual, utterly unfazed.
“He’s fine,” I said.
She finally tipped her head up. Those blue eyes that owned me on every level, finding mine. “What happened?”
“Jason’s gone. Leo’s going to have one hell of a time explaining the trajectory of that bullet. I’m not convinced Jason even saw him coming.”
She went still.
I shook my head before she could say anything. “Not worth your concern, babe.”
“Devon—”
“He killed Marty,” I said quietly. Not hard. Just true. “He killed Derrick. He put holes in Alex and kidnapped a little girl, and he laughed about taking her life on speakerphone.” I held her gaze. “Prison wasn’t the answer. Leo knew that and now we can all sleep easier.”
She stared at me for a long moment as it settled over her. First the relief, then the guilt, and then the complicated moral weight of it all. She was a good woman. She was going to be processing that for a while, but I was going to be right there beside her every step of the way.
But in that moment. She was in my arms. She was safe. She was mine.
And I intended to spend the rest of my life making sure none of that ever changed.
“It’s over?” She whispered. “It’s finally over?”
“Yeah, babe.” I gave her a pointed squeeze. “It’s over. It’s just you and me forever now.”
She curled into me, nuzzling impossibly closer.
Then something hit us at approximately knee height going full speed.
Zoey had wrapped herself around our legs, as if she could squeeze her way into the embrace.
“Hey baby,” Lofton breathed. She stepped out of my hold, immediately dropping to her knees to pull the little girl in for a long hug.
My eyes caught Brooke as she arrived only a few steps behind her. Her eyes were red and her head was still bandaged. She looked like she’d been through a war. And that wasn’t too far off from the truth.
Much like Lofton, she said absolutely nothing as she crashed into my chest, put her arms around me and held on tight.
Chuckling, I hugged her back.
“I still think you’re an asshole,” she said.
“I know,” I chuckled.
She sniffled and tipped her head back. “But you kept your word.”
“I always do.”
Tears filled her eyes. “Thank you.”
I shook my head. “Not necessary. I’m sorry I couldn’t help sooner.”
Lofton stood up, carrying Zoey, and Brooke shifted to my side to allow them space to join us. For a second, we all just… came together. Arms brushing. Hands finding hands. A quiet, unspoken acknowledgment of everything we’d just survived.