Page 40 of Ranger's Code

I take a slow sip of my coffee. It burns a little, and I welcome the heat. My voice cuts through the hush like a thread of steel. “It’s not revenge,” I say. “It’s release.”

And just like that, the spell breaks. A few murmurs rise. Someone exhales hard. But no one contradicts me. They don’t need to. We all feel it—that shift in the air, the moment power changes hands. And it’s not going back.

No one argues.

Gideon is at the back table, arms crossed, his attention locked on me instead of the screen. His expression is unreadable—jaw tight, eyes dark—but the weight of it settles low in my belly. That look always makes me feel too seen and too safe all at once. He doesn’t speak. Just meets my gaze and gives a single, deliberate nod. No words. Just that. It’s enough. More than enough. The kind of confirmation that doesn’t need to be said out loud to matter.

By the time the afternoon rush hits, the bakery looks like a parade has kissed it—and then it’s been hugged by half the town. Locals come in waves, arms full of wildflowers, jars of homemade jam, and hand-lettered thank-you notes. Someone slipped hand-drawn cards through the mail slot; they also left a basket of still-warm tamales labeledFuel for Warriors,and a few homemade brownies from the neighborhood kids. It’s chaotic and sweet and utterly human, the kind of support that can’t be bought or staged.

I press my palm to the glass, blinking hard. The love—messy, misspelled, impossibly earnest—hits me straight in the chest. I haven’t gone looking for this. I haven’t expected to find it.

I stand in the center of it all—dusty, tired, and held together by something steadier than adrenaline and deeper than relief. It isn’t pride, exactly, or even triumph. It’s the quiet conviction of a woman who has never needed rescuing—who built something strong and good with her own hands and refused to let fear or pressure steal it from her. I’m the woman who outlasted sabotage, who stared down power and didn’t blink.

And the town? They heard the whispers—the sabotage, the threats, the pressure meant to scare me off. They know I didn’t flinch. They rally—not because I was barely hanging on, but because I never stepped back. I stood my ground when it counted. I didn’t sell out. I didn’t bow. I held firm; flour on my hands and fire in my spine. And that—my grit, my refusal to fold—means everything.

This isn’t about proving anything anymore. It’s something steadier. More personal. It’s about owning what I’ve fought for—this town, this bakery, this life shaped by choice and stubborn grit.. They aren’t just witnesses to my fight—they’re co-authors, tracing my line in their own uneven script.

Through sheer refusal to back down, I’ve drawn a line so bold the whole town has chosen to stand behind it. And now, they’re with me. A community not just rooting for me, but rising with me.

“You got a visitor,” Gideon says from behind me, voice low and threaded with something I can’t quite identify.

He nods toward the front door, where a woman in a tailored gray suit stands just inside, tablet in hand, and a professional smile that says this isn’t just a courtesy call. Fifteen minutes later, I find myself in the tiny back office that doubles as flour storage, a folded offer letter clutched in my flour-dusted fingers. The scent of yeast and warm vanilla still lingers in the air, grounding me in the familiar while the future changes beneath my feet.

Board seat on Business on the Strand Co-op. The proposal includes protective zoning to shield historic areas from predatory development, a commitment to local-first ordinances, and a meaningful say in shaping Galveston's future business policies. My name won’t just sit under a menu anymore—it’ll sit next to people shaping the city’s next chapter. My signature will carry weight beyond buttercream and brioche.

“You’re stunned,” the woman says, amused.

“I bake cupcakes and swear at spreadsheets,” I reply.

“Exactly. You’re not one of them. That’s why you matter.”

I sign, my grip steady even as my pulse thrums in my ears. A little dazed, sure—but not uncertain. This isn’t a decision made in haste. It’s a line in the sand. A declaration. My name, penned in looping ink at the bottom of the page, feels like a battle cry in cursive.

Later, after scrubbing down the bakery, rearranging the flowers, and gently smoothing the last sticky note against the window, Gideon and I step out into the fading light. The warm hush of twilight wraps around us like a promise. We don’t talk much; we don’t have to. His hand brushes mine once, then again. The third time, I curl my fingers through his like it’s instinct. It seems we were always destined to walk this way together.

Back at the loft, the wind skims off the Gulf like a secret, salty and warm against my skin. I reach for Gideon’s hand as we step out onto the rooftop where it all began—where a kiss split open something big and raw and irreversible between us. The rooftop hasn’t changed—same rusted chairs, same chipped railing, same view of the sea stretching dark and endless into the night. But we have.

The horizon pulses with shrimp boats moving like slow, steady constellations. Their lights blink through the humid dark, each flicker echoing across the water like Morse code. The night air holds the brine of salt and the trace of something electric—like the hush before thunder. It smells like seaweed and stories. I watch them from the rooftop, my breath syncing with the waves. It’s the kind of view that doesn’t ask questions—it just waits for you to answer. A living lullaby daring me to stop, to feel, to believe.

I pull a cupcake from the box I’ve hidden behind the HVAC unit, the icing still perfectly swirled, the single candle tucked gently into the top like a quiet dare. I strike a match, watching the flame flicker to life before shielding it with my hand from the breeze that curls across the rooftop. I turn to Gideon, holding it out like an offering, like a promise wrapped in sugar and spark.

“One cupcake. One candle. One ridiculously sentimental gesture,” I say, arching a brow, blowing out the candle as I step into his space. “Don’t get used to it.”

Gideon arches an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth twitching like he wants to tease me but thinks better of it. He takes the cupcake, leans back against the railing with a casual kind of grace, and watches me like I’m the only thing in the world worth noticing.

I don’t hesitate. I step between his legs, slow and sure, each movement deliberate. My fingers hook into his belt loop, drawing him just that little bit closer. My body brushes his, close enough to feel the warmth radiating off his skin, the solid weight of him grounding me in the quiet dark. I tilt my face up, my voice softer now, threaded with something that feels like both surrender and challenge.

He kisses me—slow, deep, reverent—like he has all the time in the world and nothing else he wants to do with it. The wind tugs at my hair, the scent of salt and cooling rooftop swirling around us. I lean in, letting the warmth of his mouth anchor me. His hands slide to my waist, firm and sure, holding me steady as mine slip under his shirt, fingers tracing the ridges of muscle like I’m learning him by touch. I smile against his lips. Because this—this is ours now. No more hiding, no more fear. Just this moment, just this man, just this love.

And then his phone buzzes. Deacon. One text:

Feds froze the last offshore account. We got them all.

I feel Gideon’s breath stall against my cheek before he even speaks. He glances down at the screen, then angles it so I can see it too. The message’s glow lights his face, casting hard shadows across his jaw—and just like that, the tension between us vanishes.

I reach up, brushing my fingers against his cheek. “That’s it?”

His answering smile is razor sharp and deeply satisfied. “That’s it. Every shell company, every bribe, every offshore funnel. Gone.”

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