Page 31 of Ranger Belief
The idea of her married to someone else…it hit hard.
“Earth to Jonah.” Laney snapped her fingers, a smile tugging at her lips, but there was concern in her eyes. “Are you sleeping with your eyes open?”
He blinked, belatedly realizing Breanna was at his side holding out two paint colors. Jonah scrubbed a hand over his face. “Sorry, I think I am. What were you asking me, Bre?”
“Which one?” She held out two shades of nearly identical gray swatches of paint. Petite and dark-haired, Breanna was an interesting mixture of practical and whimsical. She wore sensible jeans and sneakers, but had paired them with a flowing floral blouse and delicate silver earrings that caught the light when she moved.
“Uhhh, those colors look the same to me.” Jonah shot a questioning glance toward Laney who pressed her lips together to keep from laughing and shook her head. She tried to use the couch to get up off the floor, but tilted backwards. Without hesitation, Jonah caught her.
For a moment they were frozen like that—him leaning over her, his hands holding on to her waist, baby Asher safely secure between them. Laney’s gorgeous brown eyes went wide as they met his. Her lips parted, and he felt her sharp intake of breath. Something flickered across her face—surprise, maybe confusion—before she quickly looked away and mumured ‘thanks’.
Jonah released her and took a giant step back. What waswrongwith him? Exhaustion. That had to be it. He rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m fading fast.”
“We should head back. I’m tired too.” Laney handed Asher over to her sister. “Go with Mindful Gray, Bre. It has a touch of blue that will make the yellow in your wood floor pop.”
They said their goodbyes and stepped into the night. It smelled like rain. The weather reports predicted thunderstorms over the next couple of days. Jonah sank into the passenger seat, thankful he wasn’t driving. He glanced worriedly in Laney’s direction. Piney Woods was only fifteen minutes away, but she had be just nearly as tired as he was. “Sure you can get us home safely?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” She backed out of the drive and steered them back to Piney Woods. “It was nice to take a couple of hours off from the case. Thanks for agreeing to have dinner.”
“It’s not a hardship. Breanna and Papa Earl are like family, although I was sorry Marcus couldn’t join us.”
Marcus worked nights as a nurse and had been on duty. Jonah leaned his head against the seat rest. Behind him, Scout shifted in her crate before settling down with a sigh. “Did you tell Breanna about your potential promotion? The superintendent position?”
“No. I’m not sure I’m going to take it, and I don’t want to get her hopes up that I'll settle in town permanently.” A troubled look crossed her face. “It’ll be hard to leave if I decide to turnit down though. Asher is so cute and it’s been nice being close enough to see them all the time.”
Those sounded like two good reasons to stay, but Jonah didn’t want to add to her worries. There was plenty of time to discuss the promotion after the murder case was solved. “Bre seems really happy to me. Content. Motherhood suits her.”
“It does. And Marcus is a great dad.”
There was a hint of sadness in her voice he couldn’t quite place. Jonah wondered if she was thinking about her own father. Laney rarely talked about him, or the pain that followed when he left. In his opinion, Antonio Torres was a world class fool to trade his wife and daughters for a mistress.
They arrived at Laney’s cabin. The moon was hidden behind clouds, the only illumination from the light on the front porch. Jonah scanned the surrounding area before escorting her to the door. Laney was pensive. Unusually so. He had the notion that she wasn’t ready for him to leave yet. “Any chance you could make me a cup of that sleepy tea? I had coffee at Bre’s and now I feel wired.”
She flashed him a bright smile. “Of course.”
He halted her movement before she stepped inside the house. “Let me sweep it. Just to be sure.” Jonah crossed over the threshold, hand on his holstered weapon, and paused. He didn’t sense anyone inside the house. Still, he went through the small cabin, checking closets and under the bed anyway. The space was neat and simply decorated.
Two photos were on her nightstand. One of Laney with her mother and Breanna. The other was of him and Laney, taken during a trip to the Grand Canyon the summer after he’d been injured in the line of duty. Both of them wore sunglasses and wide smiles. He remembered being thrilled that he’d made it up the mountain. The doctors had worried the compound fractures in his arm and leg, earned while tackling a perpetrator, wouldleave him with permanent mobility issues. He’d feared his career in law enforcement was over. But Laney hadn’t let him give up. She dropped everything to take care of him, camping out in his living room and refusing to leave until he was—quite literally—back on his feet.
Setting the photo back on her nightstand, he went into the living room. Laney was talking to Scout in the kitchen. Jonah collapsed on the couch and turned on a basketball game, but left the sound off. He watched without really paying attention.
Moments later, Scout jumped on the couch next to him. She licked his face. He laughingly pushed her away. “Love you too, Scout.” He stroked her fur and she settled next to him just as Laney appeared, carrying two cups of tea. She handed one to him.
“For someone who doesn’t play sports, you sure watch a lot of them.” She tucked her feet up under her as she claimed the other corner of the couch.
“Habit. There was always a game on in my house growing up.” He blew on the tea before taking a sip. It was light and floral smelling. Jonah resisted the urge to wrinkle his nose. He wasn’t a fan of her sleepy tea, and had only used the suggestion as an excuse to stay until she was at ease.
“How is your family? You haven’t said much about them.”
“Same old, same old. Cathy’s team won state this year, so the university signed her for another million years, and Samuel saved about a thousand lives with his magical surgeon hands. The July fourth family bar-be-cue was a torrent of accomplishments.” He offered her a rueful smile to take the sting out of his words. Jonah was proud of his family. He was. But being around them was a constant reminder of how different he was from the rest of them. “I thought about sharing some of my murder cases, but it’s not polite conversation to have over brisket and cole slaw.”
She chuckled. “I suppose that’s true.” Laney reached across and took his hand. “But I wouldn’t sell yourself short either. What you do is important, Jonah. It’s not flashy and it won’t make you rich, but at the end of the day, none of that really matters. What counts is the kind of person you are.”
“My family has never seen it that way.”
“I know. But it’s their loss. And I pray that one day, God will change their hearts. You deserve to be seen for the amazing person you are by the people you love the most.”
Jonah's throat tightened at her words. He was secure in his career, but in his personal life…he felt adrift. Confused. Never quite good enough. He looked down at their joined hands, the way Laney’s delicate fingers were so feminine next to his thicker ones. The longing was nearly painful. But fear kept the truth buried, where it was safe. He’d been honest when he’d told Papa Earl that whatever his feelings for Laney, it wasn’t worth risking their friendship over.
