Page 130 of The Last Promise You Made

“I’m thinking you need to use up some of that vacation time you’ve accrued,” my boss said. “Maybe in two months, things will have died down enough for you to come back in.” His eyes darted over to Ryder and back, and his lips twitched. “Unless you’ve got other plans.”

“I honestly don’t have an answer for you today, Leland.”

“We’ll figure something out, G. We need you.”

I didn’t tell him the truth. How, in those minutes when I’d thought I might die at Laredo’s hands, all I cared about was telling Ryder I loved him and making sure I saw Addy and my family again. This job wasn’t worth me risking any of them.

“Get the hell out of here,” he said with no heat. “If the task force needs an update from you, I’ll reach out. Otherwise, we’ll talk in a few months.”

He walked away, and the moment he did, Ryder was at my side.

I put my arms around him, my wrist screaming and my body shivering as the icy January air finally registered through the thin fabric of the satin evening gown. I reached up with my good hand, brushing at a lock of hair that had drifted over his forehead. Blue eyes seared into me. Concern. Love. A hint of doubt that I hated to see.

“We need to get that wrist set,” he said gently.

I nodded. “There’s something I need to say.”

His throat bobbed. “Okay.”

“I love you.”

A smile emerged for the first time since we’d teased each other in the hotel room. It was a stunning smile that made me feel like I’d stepped into a spotlight. I was on a stage with an audience of one, but it felt better than having the entire world watching.

“That’s it?” he teased. “No reasons. No grand gesture. Just three words said like you were ordering a steak?”

I huffed out a laugh. “Those three words have changed my life, even if they haven’t changed yours.”

“It wasn’t the words that changed me, darlin’. It was you.”

He leaned in and kissed me softly, and even tired, stabbed, and broken, I felt the spark of it in every piece of me. All the way down to my soul.

He drew back, put his forehead to mine, and said, “Just in case it wasn’t clear when I was talking about soulmates, you’re it for me. The true love I thought I’d never have. I love you. I love you, and I’ll do anything to make your world whole.”

The fact that he thought my world wasn’t whole slid through me almost as painfully as Laredo’s knife, even as joy flooded my veins at his sweet promise. I had to make sure he understood, that he truly heard the truth and felt it deep inside, just like I’d felt it with the honesty of words.

So, I put every ounce of love I had into every syllable as I said, “All I need is you and Addy.”

Chapter Forty-two

Ryder

GROWING OLD WITH YOU

Performed by Restless Road

Gia insisted on picking up our things from the hotel and driving straight through to Willow Creek. I wanted her to go to the hospital, but she demanded we see Addy first, that we get home first. And the fact that she was so desperate to reach my home and my daughter, along with the I love you she’d given me, did something funny to my heart. Sealed it. Healed it. Branded it. I wasn’t sure which. Maybe it was all three. All I knew was that I loved her.

I loved her and was in awe of what she’d accomplished tonight.

The cool she’d maintained while I’d thought I was falling apart at the seams.

She’d taken some over-the-counter pain meds offered by the EMTs but nothing more. I knew she was still hurting when she winced as I took the turns too fast in my hurry to get us to our family.

I took my foot off the gas, easing the speedometer down a notch. There was no fire anymore, no piano waiting to fall on our heads. There was just a long future strolling ahead of us that we still had to figure out, but it was there, waiting.

“You should sleep,” I told her.

“Too wound up,” she said. “I need to call my family before they see something on the news. Do you mind?”

---