Page 73 of Surly Sheriff
She stuttered out a sigh but lifted her head.
“Tell me, Raegan.”
“I should do the right thing and leave you. Leave Clearbrook.”
“You’ve said that before.”
Her gaze shifted beyond him, and her eyes swam with tears. “I have secrets, Beau. Ones I can never tell. My family—”
He placed a finger on her lips. “Are not relevant to us. I love you. You love me. And theright thing, for you, for me, forus,is to be together and createourfuture.”
“But—”
“Uh-uh.” He grabbed her left hand and touched the ring he’d slipped on earlier.
That, too, was fate. The right place, the right moment. And they selected the perfect solitaire, not too big, not too small.
Just right. Like them.
“You. Me. Us. Just right.” He sealed his words with a kiss on her ring finger.
She placed her free hand against his jaw, her fingers rasping across the stubble. “You make it sound so simple,” she whispered.
The pressure in his gut increased at the tension in her voice, but he ignored the warning that had saved his skin a time or three during his service with the Marines. “Itissimple, my Rae-Bae. And if your family ever comes calling, we’ll handle them. Together. Deal?”
Another shuddering sigh escaped her lungs. “Deal.”
*
The niggling sense of disquiet only left Beau when Rae floated down the stairs two-and-a-half months later dressed in a concoction of pale blue lace and took his arm, joining him under the arch of flowers in their living room.
She had vetoed a church wedding. He had refused the courthouse, seeing as his last venture before a judge ended in divorce.
And so they waited till the renovation was done and got married in their living room with only a handful of people present.
It was just right.
Overcome
17
Time’s up
Eight months later …
“Liminov will be a free man tonight.”
Rae froze, and her gaze shot to the television secured to the pillar in the middle of the bustling bakery. She moved away from the counter and walked a few steps closer to the large screen, certain she had misheard.
The female reporter stood in front of a high chain link gate securing the beige brick building squatting behind it. “I am standing outside of Sing Sing Correctional Facility where former crime boss, Vasily Liminov, will be released later today after serving only sixteen years of his fifty-five-year sentence. A former acquaintance of President Dent, Liminov was granted a presidential commutation by the outgoing …”
The words faded as the world closed around Rae, and she grabbed hold of the back of a nearby chair, sucking in huge gulps of air. It took everything in her to stay upright. Her hearthammered behind her ribs and fear, ripe and bilious, rose in her throat. She swallowed hard, biting back the need to scream.
How was this even possible?
Dazed, she spun about and walked out of the bakery. The frosty November air chilled her to the bone despite the thick jacket. Picking up her pace, she turned the street corner, retracing her earlier path. By the time she reached the house, she was sprinting, her low-heeled boots slapping hard on the sidewalk, underscoring the single word echoing in her mind.
No! No! No!
