Page 32 of Morally Grey

Nails clack on the wooden boards as our dog trots toward me with a massive stick in his mouth. I found him as a puppy shortly after I arrived, and he filled both requirements that Grey and I wanted in a dog. He’s massive and mean, but he’s also adorable. Especially when his droopy jowls lift in a smile as he carries a stick.

“Bring the prize to Mama, Meechi.” I hold out my hand and giggle as he trots over and entices me into a game of keep away. “Give it here!”

He trots a few steps away, then stops and drops the stick. His floppy ears do their best to perk up as he looks toward the place where our driveway bends into the trees. I stop too. I hold my breath and watch that shadowy area, my brain screaming for me to start running, that Grey is just around the bend.

But then a rabbit hops across the road, and Demetri takes off after it.

“No! Bad dog!” I shout as I go after him, but it’s no use. He’ll never catch the rabbit, but I can’t stop him from chasing it.

I halt beside the tree line and sigh as Demetri’s tail disappears through the trees. Another breeze kicks up, and I rub my bare arms to stave off the slight chill. That’s when I realizethe goosebumps aren’t from the breeze. It feels as if someone’s watching me.

I lunge toward the massive stick that Demetri dropped, then spin around and wave the weapon toward whatever monster lurks behind me. Only...it isn’t a monster. He’s a few pounds lighter, and his eyes look so tired, but beneath the thick beard, I can’t mistake the face looking back at me. The eyes haven’t changed a bit.

“Grey?” I breathe. “Is it really you?”

He steps forward finally and takes me into his arms. “I’m sorry it took so long.”

With shaking hands, I touch his face. I can’t help it. I have dreamed of this moment so many times, and I want to be sure this isn’t a dream too. But my fingers don’t fade through him. When he leans down and presses his lips to mine, only then do I believe that this moment isn’t another hopeful figment of my tired imagination.

“Where have you been? How did you get here?” I brush the hair out of his eyes because I don’t want to spend another moment of my life without looking into them. “Have you been safe? Are you hurt anywhere?”

He tips his head back and laughs. “I’ve been in hiding, but I’ve been well. Just terribly, terribly lonely. Have you missed me as much as I’ve missed you?”

“I haven’t thought about you a single time,” I say with a smirk.

As he bends to kiss me again, the dog races past, nearly knocking us down.

“Meechi, leave the rabbit alone!” I shout.

Grey’s eyebrow rises. “Meechi is . . . your dog?”

“When he’s good, he’s mine. When he’s bad, he’s yours. But he’s always been ours in my mind.”

“Ours.” Grey’s smirk shifts into a soft smile. “I like that.”

He takes my hand, and we start toward the little house that is ours. The garden in the backyard is ours too. And this happiness. That’s ours.

Maybe killing the head of a bank and murdering an abusive man weren’t the right things to do, but sometimes even the bad guys get a happy ending when they kill the bad guys who are worse. That’s how I sleep at night, anyway.

Grey releases my hand and starts up the porch steps. As he reaches the top, he grips the tall post that could use a new coat of paint, then looks back at me. “It’s perfect, Briar. Our new life is everything I hoped it would be.”

“How can you say that when you’ve been living it for all of ten seconds?” I laugh and turn toward the yard. “Wait until you have to chase a fox out of the chicken coop at three in the morning, then see how much you love it.”

He shakes his head and looks out at our land. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, do you?”

I shrug and turn to face him. “Probably about as much as I’ve missed you.”

“Then why don’t we go inside and show each other just how much we’ve been missing?”

As curious as I am to learn about where he’s been and how he finally arrived here, the need to have him inside me again is much stronger. I rush up the steps and enter his arms, and for the first time in my life, nothing is missing at all. That empty space in my chest is full, and I’ve never felt more complete.

“That might take all night,” I say as I look into his eyes.

“It might take the rest of our lives,” he says, then scoops me into his arms and carries me into the house.

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