Page 114 of The Last One You Loved
“I like McK. I like the dumbass, goofy smile you wear now that you’re actually having regular sex.”
I didn’t rise to his bait. I just shrugged and asked, “But?”
He shook his head. “I guess you’re just the better, bigger man because I would never give Ravyn a second chance.”
“Like I’ve said a million times, what happened with McK and me was one-hundred-percent different than what happened with you and Ravyn,” I told him.
While Ryder had sworn off anything to do with relationships after he’d had his heart torn apart, I’d always longed for what was missing in my life. Maybe because my heart knew what it felt like to be whole, and it had craved to be back in that state. With McKenna home, I felt like everything in my life was right again.
Ryder looked toward the back seat where I’d stashed Willy, sighed, and said, “Let him go. We both know what he’s going through. And this way, you can get home quicker.”
I hated that he was right. I opened the door, dragged Willy out, uncuffed him, and handed him off to my brother. “Make sure he makes it home.”
“Thanks, Mads,” Willy grunted out, wiping his face with his sleeve.
“It’s Sheriff Hatley to you, dickhead.”
Then, I rounded the front of the truck, got in, and headed the couple blocks to my house with my heart soaring and a smile already on my face.
When I opened the door, Mila came skipping over. Her skip was almost perfect these days. “You’re home! Rianne and I were getting worried.”
Rianne didn’t look worried in the least.
“Go change,” Rianne said. “We’re just putting the final touches on everything now.”
I grinned. “Thanks for helping.”
Rianne smiled back. “I’m happy to do it. It’s like a prophecy fulfilling itself.”
“What?” I asked, lips twitching.
“Even in third grade, I knew you two were forever. I could see it.”
I scoffed and headed down the hall, but I knew she was telling the truth. I’d known it back then, too. We’d just let ourselves get dragged apart by life, and our baggage, and our insecurities.
I was out of my uniform, cleaned up, and back out in jeans and a button-down in less than ten minutes, but it was still cutting it close.
I went out onto the back porch and stared at what Mila and Rianne had done. The rainbow of flowers I’d brought home at lunch covered every available space except for a little round table with a white linen tablecloth, candles, and three wrought-iron chairs painted white. Mila was spinning around in a dress covered with actual rainbows and holding a rainbow-colored bouquet. I wasn’t sure if I’d be happy or sad when she outgrew them, just like it had been bittersweet the nightThe Day the Unicorns Saved the Worldhad been replaced byThe Day the Dragons Saved the Universe.
Rianne appeared at the screen door with a tray of food, and I held it open for her. She placed it on a side table as I thanked her again for everything. She patted my cheek and said, “Have fun and good luck—even though you don’t need it.”
Then, she hugged Mila goodbye and left just as McK pulled into the drive in the Bronco. She’d been using it since coming back to Willow Creek, and I’d finally gotten it fully restored so I didn’t have to worry about it breaking down on her when she was coming home in the middle of the night after a long shift.
She drove right through West Gear territory every day, and if Trap hadn’t taken the gang back in hand once Chainsaw was gone, I might have been more worried. But since moving back to Winter County, he’d made it abundantly clear he wasn’t letting anyone hurt his daughter on his watch. He’d even been to dinner several times, and I wasn’t sure which of us was more weirded out by it?the sheriff with the criminal he’d arrested sitting at his table or the gang leader breaking bread with the sheriff.
McKenna left the garage and headed for the front door like usual, not even glancing toward the back porch. She was on her phone, probably with Sally. The two of them talked almost daily.
Mila took off into the house, and I heard her scream McK’s name as the door opened and could picture them colliding together in the way they did every time they were reunited. My lips twitched, happiness already filling my chest.
“You look pretty snazzy, Bug-a-Boo. When did you get that dress?”
“Daddy bought it for me when we went shopping. Come on, come on, we’ve been waiting for hours,” she said.
Then, they were there with Mila all but dragging McK through the kitchen and toward the back door. I kind of felt bad she was still in her scrubs, face tired, hair pulled up in a tight ponytail, but if I’d told her to go get ready, she would have protested. She never wanted to do anything special on this day.
As McK stepped out onto the porch, her brow furrowed, bouncing slightly on her toes as she took in the romantic setting before landing on me.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
