Page 92 of Edge

“Oh. What about him?”

“Well,” I started and cleared my throat. I knew what needed to be said, but I wasn’t sure how to say it. “After everything happened in Fairbanks, you had to keep the truth to yourself.Now that the truth is out, I was wondering if you wanted to talk about it.”

She exhaled heavily and started picking at the muffin wrapper. “I’m not sure there’s much to talk about. It happened exactly the way I told you, except for the last part. Honestly, I don’t really remember much of those few moments. I can recall everything in detail right before and right after I did it, but not the actual act itself. I think my mind went somewhere else or blocked it out to protect me.”

“Yeah, that’s understandable. If the memories come back or you find yourself thinking about it a lot, I want you to know you can talk to me about it. You’ve been through so much over the past few months. You don’t have to keep it all inside if you don’t want to.”

“Thanks,” she said softly. “I felt bad about killing Randall to a degree, but I also knew it was the only way to save myself. They would have killed both of us if I didn’t cooperate with them. I reminded myself of that every time I started thinking about that night. It’s kind of the same with Muzzle. It was me or him, and I chose me. For the record, I don’t feel any guilt for shooting him. In fact, I wish he would’ve gotten what was coming to him much earlier in life. It would’ve saved me a lot of trouble.”

“Yeah, but then you might not have met me.”

She gave me a small smile. “I hadn’t thought about it like that, but you’re right. I likely wouldn’t have ended up in Cedar Valley.”

“How did you end up there? I know why you left Fairbanks, but why did you choose Cedar Valley?”

“I didn’t choose Cedar Valley, per se. That’s where I ran out of gas,” she said simply.

“Seriously?”

“Well, I had a little bit of gas left, but I didn’t have enough money to put more in the tank and eat, so I stopped there andstarted looking for a job. If the guy at the gas station hadn’t told me about the diner, I don’t know what I would have done.”

“You would’ve figured something out. You’ve proven to be resourceful.”

“I’m glad you think so. I felt like a hot mess most of the time. It seems like it’s always been like that for me. As soon as I get settled and think things are going my way, life comes along and flips everything upside down. Even now. I moved to a new town, found a job and a place to live, made some new friends, and started making a life for myself. Everything was fine. Then, boom! Me and my new friends are almost killed, and my place of employment is burned to the ground, leaving me wondering what will happen next.”

“Nothing’s going to happen. The threats to you have been eliminated.”

“That’s not what I meant. I was referring to my job and my living situation. Irene and I had a deal. Instead of paying me an hourly wage, she let me live in the trailer on her property for free, and I got to keep my tips. If she doesn’t reopen the diner, that deal will change, and I’ll have to find another job.”

“Have you talked to Irene about any of this?”

“No. She’s got enough on her plate without worrying about my stuff, too. She needs time to think, and I don’t want my needs to influence her decisions.”

“For what it’s worth, I want you in Croftridge.” Cedar Valley wasn’t far from Croftridge, but at the end of the day, I wanted her with me.

“Yeah, it is nice here,” she agreed.

“Really? You’d move to Croftridge?”

“I can’t think of a reason I wouldn’t.”

Well, that was easier than I thought. I expected some resistance from her, but I wasn’t going to complain about not getting any.

“Good,” I said and leaned over to capture her lips with mine.

Things were getting heated when we were interrupted by a knock on the door.

I broke the kiss and leaned back against the headboard with a sigh. It was just as well. Neither of us was in any shape to do more than kiss. “Come in.”

Dice opened the door but didn’t come inside. “Phoenix wants us over at the conference room.”

“Why? Is something wrong?” Evie asked.

“Everything’s fine,” Dice assured her.

“He probably wants to go over everything and make sure we don’t have any loose ends to tie up,” I told her. “I shouldn’t be long.”

“Okay.” I didn’t care for the look of concern on her face, but there wasn’t much I could do about it other than try to reassure her.

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