Page 42 of Eternally Devoted

Even though Dash can never unknow all the things he’s heard tonight, he doesn’t have to physically break the law. I don’t want him doing anything that will eat at him, and while he’s come around to us being in this together, I question if he’s doing what he wants or doing what he feels he has to do.

Juniper gnaws on her bottom lip, also staring at the grout. “How will we?—”

“I can do it,” I say to Dash, wanting him to know he has a choice. I don’t need a choice. If something happens to me protecting Juniper’s livelihood and life, so be it. My brother can come back and run the sanitation business. I’m thirty-five and I’ve been in love with Juniper Sky Ellington for so many years, the idea of living a life with her anywhere but in Bluebell just doesn’t appeal to me. But Dash. He’s twenty-five. A young, fit cop with his life stretched before him. I know he cares for Juniper, and I’m still happy to step aside to let them be together. But he doesn’t have to give his freedom to save her.

I can do that.

“If you want to bow out and pretend you didn’t hear any of this, I’ll do it. I’ll take care of everything.” Our eyes idle, but I move around the kitchen island, so unlike myself charging toward him that way, but I can’t help myself. I rest my palms on his shoulders, and make it known one more time, enjoying that I have a reason to have my hands on him. “I will take care of it all, and we don’t ever have to mention it again. Just say the word. Say the word and I’ll handle everything.”

From my periphery he raises his hand. There’s a diffusion of heat in my veins as he comes to rest his palm over my hand. “I’m committed to this.” He looks over at Juni, still somewhat in a trance as she now sits atop a barstool, smoothing the pad of her finger over the rough grout, lost in thought. “I’m committed to her,” he says, his volume low enough that his words don’t travel beyond our chests, which are nearly touching.

He’s committed to her.

Sadness sweeps through me, leaving my bones a little weary and my chest a little sore. I nod, accepting his words. “Okay.”

I go to turn, to console Juni and ask what part of planning the next steps has her so quiet and detached, but Dash stops me. “I’m…” His silver eyes hold mine as an electric current swims through my soul. “I’m, uh, I’m committed to…” He pauses, and for the briefest of moments, his eyes fall to my lips before returning. “This whole thing.”

I don’t know what he means bythis whole thingbut he stopped me, he wanted me to know that he’s in, that he isn’t going anywhere, that we’re solid.

“Okay,” I reply, taking a seat across from Juniper at the bar. Dash sits next to me after retrieving a glass of water and giving it to Juni. She sips quietly, assuring us she’s only running down all possible details, making sure she didn’t leave anything crucial out. As she does, Dash and I get to work on how we’re going to fix this the best we can.

“We need to find them all and dispose of them, once and for all,” I tell Dash, having started this mental plan the moment she started coming clean. I knew right away I’d help her, that I’d try to clean up her trail for her as best I could. I knew it. But I’m relieved to know Dash will be there, too.

More than that, I’ve learned that he doesn’t just have a crush. I was right. He’s gotta be in love with her. Because he’s making the same bold statement with his commitment to this as I am, and I know how I feel about Juni.

“I agree. I think we start with the locations that are the riskiest, to eliminate the greatest possibilities as quickly as we can.” He looks at the clock again. “We gotta get the guy in the ravine. Priority one.”

I look around Juniper’s house and recall the last time I went into the Ellington barn, detached but near the main property. “We’re gonna need gloves, bags—” I stop, a small chuckle erupting from me, surprising all three of us.

Juniper blinks. “What?”

Dash eyes me suspiciously.

“It’s just— I mean, come on,” I say, waving toward Dash. “You’re a cop and I’m a garbage man. Together we should be the dream team disposing of bodies.”

Juniper’s smile is slow but gains momentum as Dash erupts in laughter, where I join him. Sometimes if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry, and I’m not crying. Not yet.

Dash’s laughter intensifies, and a moment later he’s swiping tears away, completely out of breath. “What?” I laugh, laughing harder as he does, the hinges of my jaw burning from use.

“I’ve never dealt with a homicide,” he finally says, gathering his composure as Juniper smiles, laughing softly as a bystander to our conversation. “And I’m gonna venture out on a limb and guess you’ve never even broken a law.”

I shrug. “This is why stereotypes are bad.”

Dash shakes his head like a dog who just jumped out of a swimming pool, his umber locks flying. “Okay. Back to business. The ravine is a time crunch deal, I’m telling you.” Another glance at the clock that hasn’t changed since he looked last. “We should go by our place and get some stuff,” he adds.

“That’s what I was thinking.” I look over at Juniper. “Get some clothes on, sweetheart, okay?”

She nods, slipping off the barstool and down the hall. The levity of the moment leaves the room with her as my eyes return to Dash’s.

“There’s a mine shaft down there in the ravine, a quarter of a mile down from the curve in the road,” I tell Dash, speaking low and slow, laying out important details I’ve been brainstorming. He reaches into his back pocket, producing his phone, unlocking the screen with a quick swipe. I grab it from him, causing his eyes to jump to mine. “You can’t look it up. We cannot look up any of the men or their families, locations, the woodchipper rental, nothing. Not. A. Single. Thing. Forensics will be all over everything if she becomes a suspect. We cannot give them ammo.”

He nods, shoving a hand through his hair. “That never even occurred to me.”

“I want us all to make it out the other side of this thing, so ever since she opened her mouth, I didn’t get lost in shock. I just started working on the exit strategy.” I wait for his eyes to lift to mine. “Let’s go by our place, I’ve got a plan.”

Juniper riding bitch in my truck is something I’ve thought about with my eyes closed and my toes curled. I can’t deny that. But Dash riding shotgun to her bitch? I’ve imagined it, I won’t lie.Usually, one of them rides in the back. But now? We’re all up front, and I hate to be sentimental, but I know that means something. Glancing over the moonlit cab, seeing the two of them thigh to thigh, his arm draped along the back of the seat, well, it does things to me I’m maybe not ready to admit.

“Right up there, on the right, there’s a turnout,” Dash says as we approach the bend in the road.

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