Page 42 of Forever Zara

She hated not knowing what was going on.

Archie assured her they didn’t have evidence to put Rider at the crime.

It didn’t reassure her at all.

“Yo, Z-girl.” She heard her name called a few hours later. There was a lot to be said for nervous energy. Though Erin, the house mouse, ran an efficient ship and rarely had to be prompted to do anything, Zara had completely rearranged the store pantry.

There was no time for interruptions when she still had the cans of peaches to sort through and put in order of use-by-date.

“Yeah, what is it?” She asked Preacher, putting her head around the door.

He was grinning.

“You might wanna come through. Rider is back.”

Rider is back.

The best three words she’d heard in days.

Peach cans abandoned, she followed Preacher into the main room in time to see that man of hers climbing out of Archie’s Mercedes.

The relief was palpable.

Her grin was instant.

She let Harper run to her daddy first, followed by a toddling Knox. Then he received back slaps from his brothers and a hug from his mom, but Rider’s eyes were only on her.

“Okay, guys, give me a minute to see my girl.” He said, Knox in his arms, coming over to her, and that’s when she walked into him. Feeling his arm coming around her put Zara’s earth back on its axis and air-filled her lungs, clinging to him.

“You’re home,” she murmured into his chest.

“You okay, Icy-baby?”

“Yes, so much now. Are you okay? Did you get any sleep? Did they feed you?”

He chuckled, kissing her forehead. “My sweet old lady. You didn’t have to worry. I was okay.”

“What about the charges?”

“There aren’t any charges. Hawk tracked Timmons on his Rio Grande fishing trip. Archie threatened to sue if he didn’t spring me. We left him cleaning his house.”

Zara hoped the sheriff busted some balls for this.

She held onto him for a long time before he said he wanted to shower the cop station stink off him.

And then she got some food into her man while she hovered near.

“Do you think the rest of the week can go by without notable panic?” Zara asked with a smile later when she was sitting on his lap, the boys celebrating Rider’s freedom around them. Rider chuckled. Zara wasn’t done feeling vengeful, though. “I want to put nails in her tires,” she started, “or paint all her windows black, maybe sign her up for a magazine subscription.”

“My badass. But maybe we keep you out of a jail cell. I think we’ll let Timmons deal with Fielding.”

God, she loved that dark growl to his voice.

Three hellish days. Thankfully, their marriage ceremony was back on track.

And her surprise tomorrow would not be a disaster after all.

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