Page 98 of Mountain Defender

“Rory.” He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “I would always take a bullet for you. Every time. But you should never have been in this situation to begin with.”

“No.” Ignoring Melissa’s cries and the rise and fall of alarmed voices in the distance, I press a quick kiss to his lips. “We came on a trip. Saw some friends. Gave our respects to Vince’s parents. All normal things. No one would have suspected something like this. So don’t blame yourself. I don’t.”

“I just…” Moisture shines in his eyes. “I just want to keep you safe, Ror.”

Oh.

My heart.

“You did.” Putting my free hand on his shoulder, I pull his still-trembling body to mine. “You always do.”

He hugs me back. “I love you so damn much.”

I tuck my head under his chin, nuzzling the vulnerable skin of his neck. A wave of protectiveness sweeps through me, more intense than I’ve ever felt it. “I love you, too.”

CHAPTER 20

GAGE

“Doyou want to stop by Blissful Brews next, or head over to The Laughing Goat?”

Rory looks over at me, her cheeks pink from the sun and heat. Strands of hair blow in front of her face, caught by the light summer breeze. There’s a light in her eyes that I feared I wouldn’t see after that night at the cabin. I was afraid Melissa’s shocking outburst—assault, to get technical about it—would be too much for even my strong Rory to overcome.

After all, it was a fourth attack—a fourth brush with death—and no matter how resilient my incredible girlfriend is, everyone has their breaking point. And in the days immediately after, when Rory’s PTSD was back with a vengeance, I worried she might have hit hers.

I was wrong. After the third night of nightmares, Rory announced over breakfast the following morning, “I’ve been doing the weekly virtual counseling sessions, but I don’t think they’re enough. Not right now. I’m going to go more often. And if you’re willing, I’d really like it if you could come with me for some of them. So we can work through this together.”

As if I’d say no, even though my knee-jerk reaction was to insist I was okay?

So I brought her to counseling in Bliss twice a week, attending half of those sessions with her. At first, I didn’t want to talk about myself—the crushing guilt, the nagging fear that something would happen to Rory if I left her alone, the worry that she’d realize I was too much trouble and end up leaving me.

But I did it for Rory. And once I forced myself to open up, it actually helped.

It helped both of us.

While it’s still early days; just three weeks since the night in Blue Mountain Lake, I can tell we’re both making progress. The nightmares are fewer. Rory’s not as jumpy as she used to be. And I left for my first overnight job in Burlington last weekend without turning into a complete wreck.

But I still did it. And when I got home, loaded down with fancy cheese and jams and expensive prosciutto, we spent the rest of the day making love and gorging ourselves on stinky cheese and I discovered that coming back to my sexy girlfriend after a trip was pretty great, too.

Another thing that made it tolerable to leave her? The knowledge that everyone who hurt Rory is locked away. Mavers and Ford are both looking at twenty-plus years in prison for attempted murder and murder for hire, respectively. Wade already made a plea bargain, pleading guilty to attempted murder, embezzlement, and fraud, and won’t be eligible for parole for at least twenty-five years.

And then, Melissa. As angry as I am about what she did, like Rory, I can’t help feeling sorry for her. And I can’t help wanting to do something to help the widow of my fallen teammate. So we leaned on some of our contacts in the police department, and along with Rory and my testimony, Melissa isn’t going to jail.Instead, she’s in an inpatient treatment facility with probation and community service to follow.

Is it enough? I hope so. But Alec’s keeping an eye on her, anyway. So if Melissa even enters the state of Vermont, if she does anything that could be considered a threat, we’ll be the first to address it.

“Gage. Are you listening to me?” Rory tugs my hand. Amusement sparkles in her eyes. “Or are you already thinking about what kind of food you’re going to try?”

“Of course I’m listening to you.” I lift her hand to my mouth and press a soft kiss to her palm. “I’m always listening to you.”

She stares at me for a second before laughing. “So you were listening the other night while I was talking about the pros and cons of a raw diet for the dogs? Or when I was trying to decide what color to paint the downstairs bathroom?”

As a couple hurries past us, I wrap my arm around Rory and lead her off the gravel path that leads through the town park. Once we’re safely out of the way, I reply, “I was absolutely listening. Raw food has less preservatives, but there’s the risk of bacteria in it. And the light blue is soothing, but the pale yellow would be more cheerful.”

She doesn’t answer for a second. Then she grins. “Okay. Fine. Youwerelistening.”

“Like I said.” I brush my lips across hers. “I care about everything you say.”

A soft expression moves across her face.“Gage.”

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