Page 46 of Return By Fire

Present Day

I turn to Maris and note, “I tell Rainey and Meadow almost the entire story, and they’re fine. You tell the part about Jed moving back to Florida, and suddenly, the waterworks start?”

Maris winks. “You, of all people, know what it’s like to hear that kind of news.”

I rub my fingers over my wrist and touch the gift my husband placed there not that many years ago. Then I shrug philosophically before taunting, “But who got Dean to the right location at the right time so they could actually reunite?”

That stops the tears. Rainey’s and Meadow’s heads snap in my direction like feral dogs with the scent of meat.

Smugly, I continue.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

I’ve been on shift for three days straight. All I want is my bed since I can’t have what I truly want.

Jed.

He’s three thousand four hundred miles away and despite my request to the chief to work six days straight, I can’t pull together enough shifts to fly out to see him.

“Well, it’s not like I haven’t seen him. We FaceTime every night we can,” I mutter as I drive back to my apartment—an apartment I used to love but feels noisy and claustrophobic now that I’ve slept under the moon and the stars. Screw that, I could live in a tent and it would feel luxurious if Jed were curled up next to me.

My emotions feel exposed, cut open for anyone to inspect. Fortunately, Kara doesn’t interfere too much because she’s been where I am, and according to her, “I have the stretch marks to prove it. Broken hearts suck.”

Even as the corner of my lips tip at her tart remark after dinner the other night, my phone rings. “It’s like I summoned you.”

“Why?”

“I was thinking about your stretch mark comment,” I admit.

She sighs. “I wish I was calling to give you something else to smile about.”

Uh-oh. “What’s wrong?”

There’s a pregnant pause. I turn to head toward our apartment. I make a halfhearted attempt to tease her. “Listen, since the worst thing you can tell me is our parents are back from the dead...”

“There’s an alarm going off on Jed’s boat. And you have the keys in your car for some reason.”

Okay. Maybe there was something worse she could tell me. The day he left, Jed gave me his keys to look out for his boat until he came back from Juneau encouraging me to, “Take her out. I love the idea of the three of you being on her while I’m... away.”

I haven’t managed to go back to the boat to get my stuff, let alone take her out—despite Kevin’s persistent begging. “Shit. Okay. I’ll drop by the marina on my way home. Did the alarm company say if the police were there yet?”

“Uh, no. They didn’t say that. Just said to bring the keys. Something about needing them to disable the alarm from the inside?”

“That doesn’t make sense, Kara. The alarm will likely be off by the time I get there.”

I can hear the cringe in her voice. “I didn’t really hear much after I knew I’d have to tell you to go to Jed’s.”

“Right.” I’m cursing myself for not having removed the keys from my vehicle because Kara would have spared me this. “I’ll be home in an hour.”

Something comes through garbled before she disconnects. “Damn cell towers,” I curse. I pick up speed wanting nothing more than to get there and get home. After all, if Jed’s not there, what’s the point of being on The Hook? “I can feel my wounds start to bleed all over again from my bed, thank you very much.”

I press the accelerator to the floor and push thoughts of Jed out of my mind so I don’t get into an accident.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, I park in my usual spot and begin picking my way around the yachts to the slip mooring Jed’s Sedan Bridge boat. I slow when I reach the row. There’s no alarm going off. There are no police scattered about. The harbor master isn’t anywhere around.

There’s only a lone man standing at the end as if he’s waiting to board.

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