Page 52 of Clumsy in Love

“You’re a barrel of fun,” Holly said. “It’s nature. It’s soothing. Just be quiet, and soak it up.”

He tried. Closing his eyes, he pushed out the ax murderer visions and focused on the silence, the peacefulness. After a few breaths, his shoulders fell a half an inch, and the tension ebbed away. It was oddly comforting.

“Hey,” Cole said. “Stars.” His eyes had adjusted, and he stared up at the darkest sky he’d ever seen. “Look at that big, bright one.”

“You mean the North Star?” Holly asked. “Can you see the Big Dipper? It’s part of the Big Bear.”

“Um.” He knew next to nothing about astrology. “I’veheardof the Big Dipper.”

She pointed to the sky and showed him how to use the North Star to find constellations.

“I can’t imagine living in a place where you could never get away from the lights.”

“You get used to it,” Cole said. “And I’m not gonna lie. This absolute darkness is creepy.”

“Scared?” Holly teased.

“No,” he said defensively. “But, um, just curious, whatisthe wild animal sitch out here? Fending off a bear in broad daylight is one thing. Doing it at night? Uh, no thanks.”

Holly laughed but noticeably did not answer his question. A wolf howled in the distance, and all the relaxing came undone in a second.

Every few minutes, random fireworks exploded, brightening the sky. They laid out blankets in the grass behind the barn. They had just gotten settled when the show in town started. Tess hit play on a Bluetooth speaker to start a patriotic playlist, and they all stretched out to watch. Cole followed suit and lay next to Holly. Against the black sky, huge bursts of color lit up the night before turning to raindrops of sparks that disappeared into the darkness.

It was romantic. No doubt about that. And he was very conscious of the warm body beside him. But he’d already fought and won this argument with himself. No more hanky-panky on the job.

After the fireworks, they packed up and returned to Jen’s. Holly’s house was safe for now, but it was still a wreck. Cole hadto admit that, except for losing Cruz that morning, the day had been pretty perfect. Today would go down as one of his most memorable Fourth of Julys.

The next day, they stopped for coffee and donuts on their way to work. Holly was extra careful to avoid a run-in with Rick, which made Cole feel guilty all over again. Kissing her had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. And while it seemed like a good idea at the time, it would have lasting repercussions for Holly.

The park was pretty dead, and they spent the majority of the morning driving around looking for maintenance issues. At lunchtime, they ran out to get tacos from a food truck near the park’s entrance. Holly immediately dribbled salsa on her shirt.

“Don’t worry,” Cole said. “It blends in with the jelly donut you spilled this morning. Just looks like one big stain instead of two.”

She smacked him. “Don’t tell my friends.”

Midway through the meal, Cole’s phone rang. “Robinson.”

“Hey,” Detective Flanigan greeted. “Good news. One of our CIs gave up Cruz’s location, and we picked him up this morning. DA wants to know when they can talk to Holly.”

“That’s amazing.” He turned to Holly. “They got him.”

“Awesome.”

“DA’s asking when you’d be available for a deposition and to pick him out of a lineup.”

“Do I have to go back to New York?”

“Maybe not for the deposition, but eventually, yeah.” He knew it wasn’t a question she could answer right away, so he didn’t press. “Thanks, Flanigan. We’ll figure it out and be in touch.”

He hung up and smiled. This was the best news he’d had all week. “I’m gonna make arrangements to fly out.”

Holly’s face was unreadable, but she nodded. “I can take you to the airport tonight, but not until my shift’s over. Will that work?”

“It’ll have to.” He booked a flight for midnight. That would give them plenty of time to finish the shift, stop by Jen’s for his stuff, and get to Portsmouth.

Thirty minutes later, a call came over the radio announcing a lost child. As he suspected, there were strict protocols for handling such an incident, and Holly switched into professional mode. All the rangers met in the parking lot of the trailhead where the boy and his family had started a hike. Apparently, the kid had run ahead of the parents and hadn’t been seen since. That had been two hours ago.

“Parents searched untiltheygot lost,” Holly said, returning to the car after an all-staff briefing. “They finally made it back, but still no sign of the kid. Ten-year-old boy, last seen wearing a red shirt and blue shorts. Name’s Caleb. We’re assigned to a backwoods trail that abuts this one about a mile up.”

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