Page 112 of Best Laid Plans

I felt a tinge of remorse. He'd been one of my closest friends and today he'd tried to kill me.

One of the officers approached me. He held out his hand, and I handed my gun to him.

"You alright?" he asked, his eyes scanning me for injuries.

"Yeah. As soon as I get some clothes on," I muttered. I walked to Nova's closet and found a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. "Call Agent Fancie from the GBI."

The officer spoke into his radio. I couldn't catch what he said.

A sergeant came into the bedroom with Nova. She ran to me, and I hugged her close. "That was so scary," she whispered.

I kissed her hair and leaned into her. Fuck yeah, that was. I was worried he'd start shooting the place down. I was worried I'd get hurt, and not be able to protect Nova.

"We need you to come down to the station and sort this out," the sergeant said. "And we've reached out to the GBI. I'm sure they'll be coming in hot to get the 411 on this."

"Yeah." I kept holding Nova, needing her close.

"We need a minute, Sergeant," Nova mumbled. She didn't move or raise her head from my chest.

"We'll wait outside for you," the sergeant said, and left us alone.

Nova pulled back slightly to look at me, her eyes searching mine. "You really okay?"

I smiled, feeling a wave of relief wash over me. "Yeah. Now I am. I was fucking scared I'd lose you."

"Me too," she whimpered.

We held each other for a while, and then slowly got ourselves together to go to the police station and deal with the unpleasantness we knew we had to, so we could close this chapter of our lives and move on.

Epilogue

Nova

The Sunday before Christmas, Savannah was unusually warm for that time of year, so when Anson suggested another walking tour of a historic house, it seemed like a fun activity.

When we pulled up to a historic home by the river, I felt a wave of déjà vu wash over me. The elegant white columns and the sweeping porch looked just as beautiful as I remembered. I turned to Anson, puzzled.

"We've already been here. Are we taking the tour again?"

He smiled, a hint of mystery in his eyes. "Somethin' like that, Sugar."

We stepped out of the car, and I noticed that the usual crowd of tourists was missing. The house stood silent as if waiting just for us. Anson took my hand and led me up the steps, and through the grand front door.

"Anson, where is everyone?" I asked, my curiosity growing.

He squeezed my hand gently. "Patience, darlin'."

He opened the front door, and led me to the living room, where we had once stood listening to the guide's stories about the house's history.

He stopped in the middle of the room and turned to face me, a serious yet tender expression on his face. Before I could ask what was going on, he dropped to one knee, and pulled out a small jewelry box from his pocket.

My heart raced, surprise and anticipation flooding my senses. "Anson, what are you doing?"

We had been dating, this time around, for a few months only. We weren't ready to get married. I knew we would get there, eventually, but we were still working toward it.

He opened the box, revealing a simple, elegant key resting on a velvet cushion.

"Nova, this house is ours. I bought it for us. We're not getting married just yet," he chuckled when he saw the relief on my face, "cause you're not ready, but I want to start our happy for now, to work toward our happily ever after."

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