Page 134 of The Last Promise You Made

And my stomach clenched. Was it something about the Lovatos? After the dust had settled and the initial questions had been answered about what had gone down with Laredo, I hadn’t responded to any of Leland’s messages. I’d done more than just take a vacation. I’d basically gone dark.

I’d answered Rory’s texts, but only when they were about personal things and not about the job. She and I often checked in on each other to make sure the relationships we’d chosen over the futures we’d seen for ourselves weren’t falling apart. When I’d left her in Cherry Bay with a boyfriend and his two siblings to raise in December, I hadn’t envied her the ready-made family. Now that I had Ryder and Addy, I couldn’t imagine giving them up, and I understood everything she’d done to keep her new family.

Maddox waved his cowboy hat in Ryder’s direction. “If she says no, she says no. I won’t push.”

Ryder headed downstairs to the game room where the girls were playing. I went to the refrigerator and pulled out two beers, waving one at Maddox in offering, who said, “No, but thanks. I’m not staying long.”

I put one back, cracked the top of the other, and took a swig.

“Four of us sheriffs with small offices around these parts have been discussing ways to combat the online crimes that are growing faster than we can say possum. None of us has the resources to hire a full-time cyber-crime investigator, but it’s clear we need one. We thought we might be able to pool some dollars together and create a multi-county unit. We’d be able to hire one person for sure, maybe two. My first thought was to offer the position to you.”

My throat clogged with a whole slew of emotions, and before I could respond, Maddox continued, “Now, it might look like nepotism, or like I’m offering you this in some attempt to get you to stay because I’ve never seen Ryder this happy in his entire life. Not with Rayvn. Not with anyone.”

“Maddox—”

“No, let me finish, please. I love my brother, and I want him to stay happy, but I also know that no matter if I offer you this job or not, you aren’t leaving him. You’ll figure something out. I also know you’re a damn good analyst. You brought down an entire fucking cartel with a few swipes of code.”

“Really, Rory did more of the coding.”

He huffed out a laugh that sounded very much like his brother. “What I’m saying is, we’d be lucky if you took the job. It likely won’t pay anywhere near what you’re getting with the NSA. The benefits are shit, and the hours would probably be even worse because we’d be dividing you over four counties.”

“You’re making this real tempting,” I teased, and he grinned.

“The advantage would be that you’d pretty much be your own boss. You’d be creating the unit, so you could do it the way you want without a ton of oversight.”

I took another sip of my beer. I’d put years of blood, sweat, and tears into my job at the NSA, crafting myself into a respected analyst. Living the spy dream. I’d loved the brain power it took to figure out the puzzle from the pieces left behind by the criminals. I’d enjoyed feeling like I’d done something worthy. I wanted that feeling again, but I also didn’t want to leave the bubble I’d created with Ryder and Addy.

“Would I be in the field?” I asked.

“Do you want to be in the field?” he responded.

The night at Laredo’s had changed everything for me. I didn’t want to leave my loved ones anymore. I didn’t want to risk Ryder and Addy losing someone else.

“I don’t think so,” I told him honestly with a shrug.

“Well, like I said, we aren’t sure exactly what the unit looks like, so you could shape it how you want. Toss the fieldwork to our deputies.”

It was hard to imagine something coming up that would be more handcrafted for me, for my skills, and for what I needed to keep me close to this family I’d embedded myself into. So, what was holding me back from jumping at it?

“Give it a thought. No rush,” he said just as the girls came up the stairs with Ryder on their heels.

Mila pouted and begged to stay, and Maddox held firm that it was a school night. They said their goodbyes and left us to our nighttime routine—Addy getting ready for bed and the three of us cuddling together as Ryder read stories from the growing pile of books in her room.

Once we were alone in our room, I slipped on a T-shirt and shorts, although, most nights they ended up on the floor.

Ryder drew me to him. “You’ve been quiet since Maddox left.”

“You knew what he was going to ask?” I didn’t know if I should be irritated by that or not.

He nodded, easily reading me, and said, “He told me. Not because he thought he needed my approval, but more as a heads-up so I wasn’t caught off guard.”

Brothers taking care of each other. I understood that, even though Holden and I were hardly able to do that for each other anymore with the way our lives were pulled across the globe in different directions. I didn’t say anything as I moved away, dragged the covers back, and climbed into bed. Ryder joined me, tugging me into his arms and holding me close. I could feel the pulse of his heart against my cheek. I’d never realized just how much of a comfort that could be, feeling the rhythm of his body seeping into mine as we ended our day.

I’d felt lonely that first night I’d arrived in town with Addy. Seeing Ryder with his family jumping to help at a traumatic moment had been overwhelming. But since the moment I’d kissed him, that loneliness had all but disappeared, and I never wanted it back.

“You don’t want the job?” he finally asked.

“It feels too good to be true, honestly.”

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