Page 30 of Sean

“The fights didn’t always end that way. Sometimes we’d hear one or the other leave. The door would slam, you know. Usually, it was Wilson. I think Mira didn’t want to leave the children, but when we heard she’d died in a car accident, we assumed that she’d been the one to go. And being upset, she might not have been driving safely…”

It was a plausible story to believe. A distraught wife crashed her car after a fight with her husband. Few people would have questioned that. Julia certainly hadn’t.

“I know it’s too late to help Mira, but is there anything we can do now? Go to the police?” Jacob suggested. “We don’t have proof, but we know what we heard.”

“We might need you to do that, but not yet. We’re pulling together what evidence we can find. Once we’ve gotten it all together, we’ll turn it over to the police—and with your permission, we’ll tell them what you said, too.”

“Of course,” Jacob said. “Anything we can do, truly.”

“Thank you for speaking with us,” Sean concluded. “You’ve filled in some information that we didn’t have. Julia?”

“Huh?” She focused on him.

“Is there anything else you want to ask?”

“Not now, but thank you both.” Julia stood, a little surprised her shaky legs supported her. Sean moved toward her and put his hand on the small of her back. She leaned into the touch, grateful for that small show of support.

After saying goodbye, they started the long drive back to the ranch. An hour into it, Sean pulled off at an exit and found a restaurant for lunch.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” Sean said after they’d placed their orders.

“That I didn’t know my sister as well as I thought I did. I talked to her every week on the phone from wherever I was at in the world. She never once mentioned that she planned to leave Wilson. I knew their marriage wasn’t perfect, and I had wondered about some of Mira’s choices. In the end, though, I accepted that her life was just on a different path than mine. I loved my freedom and independence, my ability to take a job that might take me to Hawaii one month and Switzerland the next. Mira seemed to crave something different. She wanted stability, a home, and family around her. She hadn’t loved our mother’s vagabond lifestyle like I had. But her stable home had turned into a prison, and I had no idea.”

“It seems like Mira was trying to conceal the truth about Wilson and her marriage from everyone. You couldn’t have known.”

His words were small comfort, and she had to remind herself that regrets were pointless. There were only two things she could do for her sister now. Bring Wilson to justice for his actions and raise the children in a safe, happy environment. She had to accomplish the first, so that she could do the second. So long as Wilson was out there, the kids were in jeopardy.

As they continued the drive, she tried to think about what her future with the kids would look like once the danger was past. She hadn’t planned on having kids herself or not for a long time at least—the kind of work she loved required her to be able to move around frequently, something that wouldn’t be possible with kids. She loved Lucy and Amos so much and couldn’t imagine not having them with her, but she wasn’t sure how to make all the pieces fit together.

It'll work out. Somehow, she told herself as they reached the gate to the ranch. Rain showers had come and gone in the last hour of the drive. Now, bright sun shone on the damp pavement, and a rainbow arched across the sky. It felt like a sign. Times were tough, and likely to get harder, but there was hope made stronger by a sense of coming home. The ranch wasn’t her home, but it was a refuge of sorts, and it felt right to be there.

Sean keyed in the code for the gate and drove to the garage. He parked the truck and came around to her side like he had earlier. When she hopped out, she nearly collided with him. Her hands gripped his forearms to steady herself as she looked up into his eyes.

“Before we go in the house,” she said, “I want to thank you again. What you did today went way beyond protecting the kids and me.”

“You deserve to know what happened to your sister,” he said quietly, “and you shouldn’t have to get those answers alone. I’m here for you.”

For how long? The question popped into her head. Of course, the answer was until Wilson was dealt with. They’d say goodbye then and both move on to whatever the future held for each of them. She’d miss him, though. That she knew.

“What?” he asked, apparently picking up on her thoughts.

“I’m just thinking how glad I am that I met you, and not only because you’ve helped me in incalculable ways.”

“Why else?” He leaned closer.

Her hands were still on his arms, but her grip had loosened. Without taking the time to process or overthink, she slid her hands up his arms and over the muscles of his biceps to his shoulders. “Because you’re a rarity in my experience. I can put my faith in you, trust you, rely on you.”

“You could be describing a good used car,” he said on a low chuckle. “It’ll get you to where you’re going.”

“I’ve owned a few used cars, but I’ve never kissed one. Never even been tempted.”

“Maybe I’m more of a shiny, new car, then.” His hands came to her waist and the distance between them shrank even more.

“I think you’re who you are, and I like that man quite a lot.” She interlocked her fingers behind his neck. It was a bold comment for her to make because she didn’t usually put herself out there. With him, she felt safe doing so.

“I like you, too. And I liked that kiss we shared. I’ve been thinking about it.”

“Yeah?” Her voice went soft and breathy, and she was glad the attraction wasn’t all on her side.

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