Page 75 of No Broken Promises

“Nah.” Avery shakes her head. “There’s enough crazy in this town to fill Boston or New York. I’d rather take time to think about the fun stuff. At least until there aren’t little ears around.”

“Hey, Mom. We’re gonna go play in the woods.” Nox waves me off when I start to stand, and the kids are all gone in the next few seconds.

“Well, shit.” Avery laughs. “Now I don’t have a reason not to ask about it.”

“It’s okay.” I chuckle. “Besides, it’s been a lot of healing and trying to avoid chaos lately. I’m sure even my therapist is getting tired of me at this point. It’s been almost three months since…”

“Since your kid was kidnapped, and according to the kids in my class, almost got turned into a vampire or a zombie. Yeah, I might have heard something about that.” Avery sips her drink again. “As fascinating as it is to think about that, I’m more concerned with you and how you’re doing. Have you processed any of it?”

“Not even remotely close.” The admission comes without the sting of shame or regret that I thought it would. “It’s like a brick. Every night I check on Nox about a dozen times until I fall asleep exhausted. Then, the next morning, if Remy hasn’t already gotten him out of bed, I start all over again and panic the entire day. Like a crazy person,” I add as an afterthought.

“Not crazy.” Avery shakes her head, and we both watch the men staring at us. “You’re a mom who almost lost her kid. Considering the fact that he survived, I’d be tracking him with a microchip and obsessing over every minute of every day. The fact that you let him play in the woods, even with half the law enforcement in our county hanging out in your backyard, is beyond me.”

She’s got a point, but I’m too distracted to answer because Remy’s watching me with hooded eyes.

I don’t even realize I’m standing up and walking across the lawn until Avery’s laughing behind me. “Go get him, girl.” She whistles.

“I like her,” I tell Remy when he pulls me into his side. “She’s just as sassy as Kennedy is.”

He kisses me, right there in front of everyone. “I like you, Parker Jane. Have since the day I met you.” His hand curves around my hip. “Now, babe, I have an important question. Will you run back inside for the plates and silverware and shit? I forgot it.”

Glancing around him to the table that’s full of chips and dips and buns for the grilled food, I make a mental list of everything that he forgot. Plates and silverware weren’t the only things, which is saying something since it feels like everything but the kitchen sink is out in our backyard right now.

“Yep.”

He kisses me, this time sweetly, and the hand on my hip squeezes before he lets me go. And when I’m back a few minutes later with a pile of things in my arms, Remy’s right there to take everything.

This. This is what our life is. What it was always supposed to be.

No more stress of someone causing problems and trying to hurt me. Taylor’s gone—locked up—and since she was stupid enough to admit it in a room full of cops, she’s not going to get out anytime soon. Watching her try to plead out based on insanity had been the highlight of my year, honestly. The judge denied her request outright, and even her lawyer had to know it wouldn’t work. But when Taylor got the maximum sentence for stalking, kidnapping, and attempted murder, I honestly felt like I could breathe for the first time.

Unfortunately, I never thought I’d be watching my son almost light the entire state of Maine on fire.

“We just want s’mores,” Nox argues with me when I grab the blowtorch out of his hand. “Come on, Mom.”

“S’mores doesn’t mean use my blowtorch, bud.” Remy pulls a camp lighter out of his back pocket. “Try this instead.”

“Nope.” I intervene before Nox can grab the lighter. “Lucas. You’re in charge of starting the fire.” Holding out the lighter for the older boy, I smile at them. “But be careful, or I’m gonna take away fire privileges.”

The boys back away slowly, watching me like I’m about to snatch the lighter back. And when they’re just far enough away that I can’t actually make that happen, they’re joined by the rest of the kids and even a few of the grown men who should know better than to let a couple of kids play with fire. But they’re standing there to supervise, or that’s what they’d say if I bothered to ask them about it.

“This is perfect.” Remy slips his arms around me. “This is exactly what I pictured our life would be like when I fantasized about making you mine. At night, during firefights, anytime I thought of you. It was always this. Us, surrounded by friends and family.”

While he talks, I lean into his chest and let the rumble of his words filter through his body and into mine.

“You’re perfect, too,” he adds before I can say anything in response. “I’m so fuckin’ happy that I have you. That you and Nox are mine.”

“You’re mine, too, you know.” I tilt my head to the side, looking up at him for a second. “You’re right. We’re yours. You’re ours. It’s the way it’s meant to be. But I’m not as romantic as you are, apparently.”

I don’t tell him that his words have me on the verge of tears or that I’m still counting my lucky stars that I didn’t leave Birch Harbor, that he forced me to pay attention to him. But most of all, that he didn’t give up on me when I’d already given up on him.

“I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life showing you exactly how and why.”

EPILOGUE

REMY

Nothing else in my entire life has been more important than this exact moment. My palms are sweaty, and there’s a slight tremble in my fingers that I can’t quite bring under control.

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