Page 134 of The Rescuer

He hesitated while his heart thudded in his chest. “And who would that be?”

“It’s you, Reece. I’m in love with you. I always have been.”

“Say it.” He’d been waiting, dying to hear those three words fall from her lips ever since he’d told her two days ago.

“I love you.” Her voice was soft, like a summer breeze.

He cupped his ear. “Not sure I caught that.”

“I love you.” Then she threw her back and yelled at the ceiling. “I love you, Reece Hunnicutt! Do you hear me?” She brought her eyes back level with his and smiled wide.

“I heard you, but I’m gonna wanna hear that again and again and over and over because I love you too, Neve Hunnicutt.”

She tapped her chin dramatically with her good fingers. “Here’s a thought: If you love me and I love you—”

“We should get married,” he spouted. “Oh, wait. We’re already married. Now we need to make it official-official.” He pulled her down for a kiss, breaking it long enough to add, “Are you going to call the attorney back and tell her we don’t need her services, or am I?” He had some consummating ideas begging to be acted on, but they owed the attorney an answer first.

Before Neve could respond,hisphone rang. “Jesus, don’t people have anything better to do today than call us? No last-minute Christmas shopping?” He grabbed his phone from where it lay on the arm of the couch.

“Huh.” He slid his thumb over the green button. “Reuben?”

“Hey, Reece,” Reuben Keyes greeted in a cheerful voice. “How’s it going, buddy?”

“Well, we kinda had a situation a few days ago, but it’s all good now.” Still straddling him, Neve nestled against his chest on her good side, and he tightened his arm around her shoulder.

This. Right here.

“Yeah, I heard about that situation from Deputy O’Brien. Wow, lots of action for such a small town.”

Reece chuckled. “I know, right?”

“Hey, the reason I’m calling is I also heard you were considering a job in Vermont.”

“I was.”But I was an asshole and stuffed it back in their faces.

“So here’s the thing,” Reuben drawled. “Chelsea Selkirk quit, and San Juan needs an incident commander to take her place. Pronto.”

Reece’s heart began jackhammering. “She hasn’t been replaced yet? I figured candidates had lined up all along the Million Dollar Highway and that the job was already filled.” With the excitement of the last few days, Reece hadn’t even considered what Chelsea’s resignation meant to SAR. Now his mind was spinning like a hamster wheel.

“You figured right, at least on the first part. Lots of people are interested, but the county guys haven’t offered it to anyone yet. They want to get this right, and they asked me if I had any recommendations. You’re the first person I thought of. By sheer coincidence, Chelsea stayed with the wife and me at our house the other night before she took off for Portland, so I asked her about you.”

Reece sucked in a silent breath, held it, and closed his eyes, sure he was about to hear how Chelsea had thrown his ass under the bus.

“She agreed you were the best man for the job.” Reuben let out a chuckle. “In fact, she couldn’t stop singing your praises. Talked about your integrity, your calm under fire, and how the team respects you. She gave you a glowing recommendation, and that reinforced my decision to call you and see if you could be talked into staying before we lose you to some other outfit. Now I haven’t mentioned this to the county guys yet—I didn’t want them getting their hopes up. Even if I heard wrong about Vermont, I’m sure opportunities have been coming at you fast and furious since you quit.”

Reece reeled, his tongue tying itself in knots. Neve slid from his lap, as if she sensed the tension thrumming in his body, and he stood and paced.

Reuben rushed into the silent void. “So, Hunnicutt, what do you say about becoming the incident commander for San Juan Search and Rescue?”

Reece got his tongue unstuck. “Let me get back to you. I-I need to talk it over with … my wife.” Looking at Neve, he raised his eyebrows in question. She returned a nod and a smile.

“Didn’t know you got married. Congratulations. And yeah, I get it. My wife would want in on an important decision like that too.” Another chuckle from the other end of the line. “I hate to push, but here I am doing it. I’d like an answer before New Year’s Eve so the guys can get the ball rolling, one way or the other.”

“Of course. You’ll get it.” Reece pulled the pieces of his blown mind together. “Thanks for the opportunity, Reuben. I really appreciate the confidence.”

“Like I said, no one’s better suited.”

He turned to Neve as soon as he hung up. “How do you feel about sitting down, you and me, as a family, and making a decision about an opportunity that just landed in my lap?”

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