Page 124 of Half Baked

“He killed Billy Hauser to protect me. He said he knew Billy didn’t kill my mom, but he didn’t trust him not to hurt me.” More tears fell. “He killed a man for me, Noah. A man who’d only threatened to hurt me. While part of me feels grateful, I also feel so guilty. Like I caused that man’s murder.”

“Hey,” I said gently but firmly. “You had nothing to do with it. If George had really wanted to help you, he would have told the sheriff’s department about the threat. Not enacted his own vigilante justice.”

She didn’t look convinced.

We were quiet for several long moments before she said, “I know who killed my mother. Joe Kipsey admitted he did it to convince his brother Billy to let him into his business. Only Billy wasn’t happy he’d killed her and set Kipsey up to go to prison.”

“Wow.”

“But I finally know,” she said. “For the first time since she died, I know who killed her and why, so why do I still have this gaping hole in my heart?”

I wrapped my arm around her, holding her tight while she cried herself to sleep.

ChapterThirty-Four

Maddie

When I woke up, I was aware of two things. One, I was cocooned by Noah’s body and felt more loved and protected than I ever had in my adult life. And two, I felt like I’d been run over by a truck. My head hurt, my arm hurt, my eyes felt swollen, and my entire body ached.

I’d been a basket case after Noah found me and brought me home, but this morning I felt lighter than I’d felt in ages. I still hurt, inside and out, but I felt less burdened. Maybe it was the good long cry I’d had last night before bed, or Noah holding me all night. Maybe it was the knowledge that my mother had been loved deeply, and that I’d found someone who loved me that way too.

“Good morning,” Noah murmured in my ear, then placed a kiss on my shoulder.

“Good morning.”

“How are you feeling today?”

The worry in his voice touched someplace deep in my heart. “Better.”

“You don’t have to tell me that, Maddie. You don’t have to tell me what you think I want to hear.”

I rolled onto my back and looked up into his concerned face. “I do feel better.”

He gave me a dubious look.

“Truly. I do. I got answers about who killed my mother. I can let that go. And yeah, there’s still a hole in my heart, but you’re helping me fill it, Noah.”

His eyes widened.

“My mother’s my past, and maybe that hole is there because I couldn’t let the past go. Not without getting answers. But now that I have them, I can fill it with something in my present.” I gave him a soft smile. “I can fill it with a life with you, Noah.”

He kissed me, then we made love, and he treated me so gently that I could feel myself falling more deeply in love with him.

I could see a future with this man, and it filled me with joy.

* * *

Mallory came home by lunchtime.Noah and I were snuggled up on the sofa while Aunt Deidre sat on the love seat, watching yet another game show. She burst through the door, took one look at us, and demanded, “What happened?”

I was tempted to downplay it, but Noah gave me an understanding look and took Aunt Deidre into the kitchen so they could make lunch together.

Mallory sat down next to me, and I gave her an abbreviated version of what had happened since she’d left for Chattanooga. When I was done, she was furious.

“Why didn’t you call me?

“I didn’t see the point,” I said. “You couldn’t have done anything. I came home from the hospital and went to bed.”

“You still should have called me.”

---