Page 129 of Second Chance Savior

My mother glanced at me primly while slicing a Valencia in half. “That’s because it’s River’s favorite.”

He paused with a plate in his hand. “You remembered that, Mrs. McKinley?”

“Of course I did. Moms remember all those little things. And please River, it’s about time that you started calling me Beverly.”

A rosy flush crept up his neck. River almost never blushed, but it was so dang cute when he did. I knew whathe was probably thinking. That his own mother never remembered things like that.

“All right, Beverly. Thank you.”

Our moms were still friends after all these years, but they couldn’t have been more different. And I had never been so thankful for it.

I flipped the pancakes, then snuck over to River and gave him a lingering closed-mouth kiss. “I love you,” I’m murmured against his lips.

“Love you too, Charlie-baby.”

A choked cough came from behind us. My dad had just walked into the kitchen. River and I glanced over at him, smiling. And my dad, to his credit, returned our smiles with his typical enthusiasm.

“Oh, good. Everyone’s all the way up and rarin’ for action this morning.”

River snorted, trying to cover his laugh, and I wasn’t faring much better.

“Minds out of the gutter, children,” my mom said over her shoulder.

This was our first visit back to my parents’ house as a couple. I’d been nervous. How would my parents react to seeing me and River together, after I’d spent quite a few years engaged to his brother?

It had been awkward over the phone when I’d first broached the subject. But my parents had always been nonconformists. As long as I was happy, that was all that mattered.

And Iwashappy. I was back doing my job in Denver. River had visited me several times, and he’d won over Cleo. In fact, she now liked him better than me. Probably because he always took over the job of feeding her while I was away at work. Just last week, I’d caught the two of them actually cuddling on the couch.Cuddling.

But River did have a way of winning over even the grumpiest of souls. I had to give him credit for that.

My parents had welcomed River back like a part of the family. I knew how much that meant to him. Even if my dad still got weird about seeing us kissing. Dad had been that way with all of my boyfriends. Some things didn’t change, and really, I liked it that way.

Next month, we would visit River’s mother in California for New Year’s. Ross and his wife would be flying in from Seoul. That would be a whole new level of weirdness. But I was optimistic. I’d spoken to Ross a couple of times now on the phone, and we were all in a good place. Maybe it would even be fun.

But today, Dad was taking us ice fishing down at the creek. It was harder to get the fish to bite in winter, but he had his favorite spots. Mom planned to spend all day in her studio.

After breakfast, River and I headed for the garage. Dad was already out there gathering his fishing supplies.

Snow had transformed the property into a winter wonderland. Glittering icicles hung from the eaves, and white fluff covered the evergreen branches. My dad was fastidious about plowing and shoveling, so we had a clear path between the house and the garage. In the course of supervising the repairs, he’d insisted on keeping a couple of the bullet holes in the garage walls. Dad loved regaling the neighbors with stories like he’d been here himself during the battle.

He and Mom had been horrorstruck to learn the truth about Jud, but all in all, they’d been handling the chaos well. Few reporters made the mistake of turning onto their driveway these days.

Dad didn’t brandish a shotgun. Nope, he had his bow and arrow ready to defend their property against unwelcome trespassers. His reputation had spread.

Don’t mess with the McKinleys.

River and I had remained mum about the ongoing FBI investigation of Stillwater. That was highly sensitive, highly confidential information. Tomorrow, we would head to Hartley to discuss the latest with the Protectors.

But first, a day spent outdoors with my dad. It wasn’t warm outside like those summers River had spent here long ago, but it was still a reminder of the good old days.

When we reached the garage, River stopped me. “How about I go in and help your dad? I doubt we need three sets of hands. You can wait here.”

I understood what he was trying to do. Keep me from having to see the inside of the garage. The place where we’d interrogated Jud and where River had been held by the FBI.

Processing the events of a few months ago had not been easy for me. I’d been up late many nights. Nightmares had woken me. It had been especially hard on those nights that River hadn’t been by my side.

But my strategy was to face things head on. Whether it was the awful memory of Jud’s murder, or Agent Rainey’s attack, or whenever I was arguing policy with the opposing party. In fact, just making this trip home had been cathartic. Seeing this place as a happy home again.

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