Page 74 of Scorched

“He’s really dead,” she whispered.

Paul tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yes, he is.”

“Brenna told you?”

“News on the grapevine travels fast.”

Elise couldn’t stop the sob from rising up her throat. “I’m free.”

Paul pulled her into his arms and held her, Luke crushed between them. Brandon broke away from Kendall and pushed his way in between Elise and Paul, so they stood hugging, just like a family. “So, what’s it going to be? Are you going to stay and give these folks a chance to know and love you?”

Elise nodded, for the first time in two years daring to hope. “On one condition.”

“And that is?” Paul kissed the tip of her nose.

“I get to know you as well.” She leaned up on her toes and pressed her lips to his.

“Good, because I still have a fence to build and a puppy to get settled. I promised the boys.” Then he kissed her long and hard and a cheer went up from the crowd. When he came up for air, he smiled and held her close. “Then it’s settled. You’re coming home.”

She nestled into his chest, her arms around him and her boys. The promise of a bright future ahead, with the chance to get to know this tall, handsome man filled her with a happiness she never dreamed would come her way. “I’m coming home.”

EPILOGUE

Five months later...

“Fetch!”Luke called out as he threw the tennis ball for the fifteenth time.

Titan, the four-month-old sable German Shepherd mix, dashed across the backyard. Still a puppy with gangly legs, he skidded to a stop seconds before crashing into the back fence. He made a clumsy leap into the air, caught the ball between his teeth, and trotted back toward the boy, his tail swishing side to side.

Luke took the ball from Titan and handed it to George, the high school janitor and Luke’s friend. “Here, George, you throw it this time.”

Elise’s heart warmed at the man’s smile as he took his turn, throwing the ball for Titan.

Paul, Elise and the boys had spent a weekendclearing the brush off the back of the property between Elise’s house and George’s. When they’d built the fence, Paul had installed a gate between the two yards, making it easier for George and Luke to visit with strict rules on keeping it closed so the puppies couldn’t get out.

On the porch, Athena, the surprise puppy that had chosen Brandon, lay sprawled across the wooden deck, leaning against Brandon, having tired of playing chase, content to roll onto her back for the belly rubs Brandon provided every time she was near.

After they’d finished building the fence, Paul had loaded them all into his truck, took them to the local shelter where he’d heard they’d just received a litter of puppies that had been left on their doorstep in a cardboard box. They’d arrived to find nine wiggling pups, eager to find new homes. The staff had allowed the boys to enter the pen and play with the puppies.

Luke had chosen the pup wrestling with his brothers and sisters and then came up to him and licked him on the cheek.

Brandon had sat close to the squirming mass of pups. All but one of them came up to sniff him and crawl across his lap. The last one, a solid black female, stood away from the others, smaller, scared and looking a little sad.

Paul had leaned down to Brandon and told him that solid black pups were sometimes the last to be adopted.

Brandon’s brow had furrowed, his gaze on the black female.

Once the others moved back to Luke, the black one came up to Brandon, crawled into his lap and fell asleep. He couldn’t leave her behind.

They’d gone into the shelter for one puppy and came home with two. Though Elise hadn’t wanted the puppies to sleep with the boys, they’d ended up in their beds every night and seemed to help soothe them when they had nightmares.

Elise stood beside Mel at the grill Paul had insisted on purchasing, sayinga backyard wasn’t complete without one.

Mel flipped a couple of hamburgers, removed all the hotdogs from the top rack and placed them on the platter Elise held out. She tipped her chin toward Brandon and Luke. “How are they doing?”

“Luke isn’t as eager to run out of the house without permission, though I expect he’ll be back to his old antics soon.” Elise sighed as she glanced toward her older son. “Brandon still has nightmares and is super protective of his little brother and me. Having Paul here most evenings and on the weekends, teaching the boys how to use a hammer and build things has made them feel safer.”

“The entire community of Bruer feels safer with Cain locked up,” Mel said.

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