Page 45 of One More Chance

“Maybe that’s exactly what she needs. It could be the exact reason why God put you in each other’s paths.”

Kenna nodded. “I had thought the same thing. But I was actually thinking about all of us, you and me. Us and Maizie. Ramon—I mean, who else would put up with him coming and going, doing his own thing?”

“Bruce?”

“Let’s not get crazy. I don’t think he was sent by God.”

Jax chuckled. “I do think the same thing about you and me.”

“God knew what you needed?”

“It wasn’t some SUV-driving soccer mom, ferrying the kids around and meeting her girlfriends for brunch.” He lifted his hands. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, if it’s the life you want. Everyone gets to choose, and no one should have to live a life they’re stuck with just because it’s the consequences of their poor choices.”

“But that’s not you.”

“I know it isn’t because I tried it once, and it only lasted a few months. I was bored out of my mind.”

Kenna grinned. “I’m definitely not boring.”

If only he didn’t have to deal withallthe things she’d brought into his life. She could do without theDominatusand the genetic experimentation. But still, they’d handled it all so far.

“I get a partner who understands what I do and why. I get a woman who would go to war to protect the people she loves, who holds people tightly and is fierce. Who values family above everything and knows the value of working together, but who is also independent enough to stand on her own, and I don’t have to worry.”

Kenna had to clear her throat. The sheen of tears in her eyes couldn’t be helped. “I love you.”

Jax leaned across the table. “That’s the best part.”

She wiped the corner of her eye. “Let’s go visit a rehab facility, see if we can get some answers.”

“Maybe Bruce will pretend we’re there to check him in.”

She chuckled, enjoying the way he’d lightened the mood. She did that a lot, defusing tension. Setting people at ease. Letting them know it didn’t have to be life and death all the time. Things could be light and enjoyable, even in the middle of a tense situation.

She slid to the edge of the bench seat. “Let’s go, partner. We’ve got a case to work.”

Chapter Thirteen

“As I said”—the nurse stepped to the side with her back to the door—“if she doesn’t wish to speak with you, I’m afraid there’s nothing any of us can do.”

Kenna nodded. “We appreciate you letting us in.”

That had happened thanks to Jax’s badge more than the goodwill of the staff here at the Morrow Wellness Center. A fancy name for a psychiatric hospital that turned out to be more upscale than Kenna had expected. It almost looked like a hotel, or a resort, than a hospital. All gleaming fixtures and fresh paint. Ceiling fans and precisely controlled temperature.

But Dana Barrett was still a patient. She’d checked herself in voluntarily, knowing she couldn’t leave until she completed the program.

Jax touched her shoulder and whispered, “I’m going to hang out here in the hallway.”

Kenna turned her head to him a little without taking her attention from Dana. The patient sat in a high-backed chair in the corner of the room. She had a book on her lap and wore light pink scrubs. Slippers on her feet. Her hair had been brushed, but it hung limp over her shoulders as if it didn’t have the wherewithal to do anything but lie there.

“Dana? I’m Kenna.” She spotted a wood chair with a pleather seat in the corner. “Is it okay if I sit with you for a few minutes?”

Dana’s gaze shifted from the window to Kenna, then to the door. “Kerry, the cat is back. She caught a mouse.”

Kerry, the nurse, smiled. “I’ll tell the groundskeeper.” She ducked into the hall where Jax stood. He would find out what the staff knew, but it could add context to what she learned from the patient.

There might not be much the staff could tell Kenna and Jax when medical privacy rules came into play. It was up to Dana and what she wanted to share.

“There’s a cat?” Kenna dragged the chair over and sat facing Dana. “My husband and I have a cat also. Her name is Jolene.”

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