Page 41 of The Perfect Catch

“I won’t regret my time in Last Stand,” she assured him, trying to find the right way to track back to their earlier conversation, when he’d said he was sorry for judging her. Did he mean that he regretted ending things? Or just that he regretted the harshness ofhowhe’d ended them? The warmth of his fingers on her forearm gave her reason to hope. “And I’ll stay to finish the job if it’s just the same with you. The sheriff’s office back home told me I can go into a local police office to give a statement in response to the citation against me, so I don’t need to go home right away.” The legalese confused her, but the officer she spoke to had been both helpful and reassuring, suggesting the charges would never stick if she hadn’t been compensated for the work. And she hadn’t—she’d never made a dime above her regular salary as a building supervisor. “But I don’t want my presence to cause more trouble for you and your family.”

“I’d like you to stay,” he told her firmly, bracketing her shoulders between his palms. Steadying her. “More than that, I want you in my life any way I can have you.” He waited, as if letting the words sink in.

She couldn’t answer, shock robbing her of words.

Last night, she’d felt the same way, but things had changed so quickly today. She tracked his movements as he reached to cup her face, tilting her chin toward him.

Could they really still have a chance together?

“I’m uncertain of my career,” Cal admitted, his voice rumbling from his chest to hers, vibrating through her. “But I’m not willing to give you up to please a manager, so whatever comes I’ll handle it. I know it’s not fair to ask you for a future when I don’t know what that might look like, but I am willing to compromise to find a way we can be happy together.” The sincerity in his words and in his gaze was unmistakable. “That is, if you’ll still have me.”

Chapter Twelve

“Yes.” Nodding, shetried to clear her throat gone raspy from emotions. “I want you in my life, too.”

Happiness made her knees weak as they stood together in the front room of the farmhouse, an old-fashioned cuckoo clock chiming the hour as the afternoon wore on.

“Does that mean you can forgive me for this morning?” Cal asked, studying her expression as if searching for any hidden reservations. “I’m sorry I was so quick to judge you.”

His words went a long way to heal the hurt she’d felt earlier.

“I forgive you, Cal. If you don’t protect your image and your reputation, who will? I should have told you up front about the circumstances that made me leave Florida.” Josie wrapped her arms around Cal, holding him close for a long moment. “I’ve been dealing with my mother for so long that I was just happy to forget it all for a while and bury my head in the sand. But you deserved better.”

She felt the tension in him ease in a shuddering breath, and it touched her to know how much her forgiveness meant. How much she meant.

She’d never had a love like that. Now, more than anything, she wanted to protect and nurture the gift of that kind of love.

“No more secrets,” he promised her. “From now on, there’s no quota on how many questions we ask each other.”

She smiled against his shoulder before easing away to look up at him. “Okay. Why don’t you start by asking me where things stand with the charges against me?”

He frowned, but his palms on her back rubbed warm circles. Comforting. Understanding.

“Where do things stand, Josie? We’ll get you the best attorney to fight this.”

She appreciated his unconditional support so much. She could get used to having a partner who believed in her, who would help her when things got difficult. But in return, she needed to be that kind of stabilizing presence for him as well, to support him when his career was rocky, or when his dad tried to undermine all the great things he’d achieved.

“I phoned the sheriff’s office to turn myself in and—first and foremost—I got some good news.”

His eyebrows shot up as he drew her to sit on the sofa beside him. “You did?”

“The officer I spoke to is the same one who investigated the con artist who swindled me, and would you believe they arrested himandrecovered almost all of my savings?” She’d been stunned when she’d heard. Of course, the police hadn’t been able to inform her because she’d left town and changed phone numbers in her ill-conceived effort to hide from her past. “It wasn’t all that much money, but it’s everything I had. And they got back ninety percent of what I’d lost.”

The money was the least of what she’d won today, but she was still glad to have her savings returned to her.

Cal wrapped her in his strong arms. Squeezing. “That’s excellent news. I hope the bastard does some jail time.”

She took comfort from the hug as much as the words. She was so grateful to have this second chance with him.

“He will. I wasn’t the first of his victims, so there are quite a few charges, apparently.” She edged back on the deep cushion to peer up into his eyes. “But the other good news is that the photo caption about me being under investigation was misleading.”

“Really?” He sounded skeptical.

“My mother wanted to press charges against me, but since she was employing me, she couldn’t provide evidence of my wrongdoing without seriously implicating herself.” Maybe a better daughter would feel badly about that. But Josie’s sympathies were with the tenants who’d had to put up with poor conditions too often over the years. “When Mom tried to backpedal, the state’s housing assistance authorities got involved. So technically, I do need to give a formal statement, but the ultimate investigation isn’t about me. It’s my mother’s business that is under state scrutiny.”

She could see now that she’d given her mother far too much space in her head, believing her to have a level of smarts and power that she didn’t. The fact that her mom had gotten herself into legal trouble in an effort to be vindictive with Josie—that was all the proof she needed that her mom wasn’t as sharp as she’d given her credit for.

He nodded, seeming to think it over. “We should still send you in there with a good attorney to make sure you’re protected.”

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