Page 72 of Claimed by the Lawman

Epilogue

CLIMBING OUT OF his truck, he looked at the fancy vehicle parked in front of the Posey house. He started for the porch, finding Johnny sitting in the rocker, nursing a lemonade. “Hello, Johnny.” Kace dipped his hat. “Am I interrupting?” He jutted a chin toward the silver BMW.

“Not for me.” Johnny smiled. “Tyler’s inside with a couple of big time producers from New York. They’re talking about a role they have for her on some stage.”

Kace’s insides tightened. “They’re offering her a role?” His breath caught in his lungs.

“That’s always been what she said she wanted to do.” Johnny looked out over the setting sun. “She’s always been like her momma and liked to roam.”

Turning, Kace looked into the orangish-blue sky, but didn’t see anything beyond his emotions. His heart beat so fast and he felt sick. After they’d put the stamp of closure on her sister’s death, he was finally ready to ask Tyler to be his wife. Why did this feel like a repeat of the past? He’d confessed his feelings, and if that wasn’t good enough, he didn’t know what would be. Patting the box in his jacket pocket, he retraced his steps back to his truck.

“Where are you going, Cade?” Johnny asked.

“I’m going home, sir.” He opened the door.

“Don’t you want to wait and speak to Tyler?” The man stood and made his way down the walkway to Kace. Since he’d been out of the hospital he’d lost some weight, but he looked good.

“I don’t think there’s any use.” Kace controlled his voice.

Johnny leaned against the truck. “You’re not going to just walk away again, are you?”

Kace met the other man’s gaze. “She’s a free woman, sir. She has the right to make her choices. If a man squashes a woman’s dreams, he crushes a bit of her soul with it. I won’t ask that of Tyler.”

“You love her that much? You’ll take the heartbreak so that she can follow a dream?”

“Yes, I do love her that much. Have you watched her while she’s on stage? I have. I visited New York once, but she doesn’t know it. It was a long time ago. She shone like a bright star and all eyes were on her. I was breathless, and I told myself that the cracks in my heart were every bit worth seeing her own that stage…doing what she loved to do. If she has a chance to stand on that stage just one more time, then it’s all worth it.” He resituated his hat and climbed into the truck. He bid the man a farewell and pulled out of the driveway, heading back to the narrow lane—back into his lonely existence.

~~**~~

Tyler stepped inside of the cell and closed the door. She couldn’t believe she was doing this for a second time in her lifetime, but sometimes a woman had to do what she had to do.

Finally, she saw Kace step from his office, a bewildered expression on his face. “Not this again,” he said in a low voice.

“I was thinking the same thing when you didn’t answer my calls or texts.”

“What was wrong with you walking into my office? Do you have to occupy the cell? I think you’re starting to like it a bit too much.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she tapped the toe of her boot. “Dad told me you stopped by today.”

He shrugged and took two steps into the room. “Yeah, I was there.”

“And you didn’t say hello?”

“I didn’t think I should interrupt your company.” He stepped up to the cell. “Now get out of there.”

“Not until you tell me once and for all, what has made you grumpy?”

“When does your plane leave?” There was a heaviness to his voice.

“My plane?’ She blinked. “Is that it? You think I’m leaving?”

“They did offer you a role on stage, didn’t they?”

She nodded. “Yes, they did. Don’t you think it’s a bit presumptuous that you think you know everything?” She tilted a hip.

“I know you and your love for theater.”

“But do you also know the love I have for you?”

---