Page 75 of Betrayal In Calusa Cove
Baily giggled. “And Hayes and Chloe are like a perfectly worn pair of boots.”
“That’s one way of describing them.” He nodded.
“So, what’s your weird metaphor for us?”
“We’re like a river. We came together too fast, too soon. We split, gained strength, knowledge, and power, and then collided together at just the right moment to become one.”
Tears burned the corner of her eyes. “Well, oh, my Fletcher Dane. You just might’ve hit your first romantic note.”
“And at precisely the right moment.” He lifted his hand. A diamond ring sparkled in the moonlight, elegant and simple, set in a band that looked strong enough to survive a hurricane.
She gasped.
“I was going to wait,” he said. “Until things settled. Until we could breathe. But then I realized—we don’t get guarantees, Baily. Not in this life. We only get the people we trust. The ones who fight for us.”
He slipped the ring onto her finger, slowly and deliberately, as if anchoring her in place.
“Everything I have is yours. This house, the old Crab Shack, the airboats, every spare bolt in that shed. You’ve always had my heart. There’s never been anyone but you in that space. We’re better together. We always have been. In the shadows of these damn Glades, I will never stop being your lighthouse.”
“Now, you’re just being corny.”
He shrugged. “I tried.”
“Maybe a little too hard.” With tears in her eyes, she lifted her hand and stared at the ring. “It’s beautiful. Your mom loved this ring. She used to always tell me that someday, she’d take it off and give it to you to give to…” She let the words trail off. “I miss her.”
“I miss her, too.” He pressed his lips over the ring on her finger. “This ring was always meant for you. No one else. What do you say, Baily Mitchell? Will you marry me?”
She opened her mouth, but she didn’t get the chance to speak.
A sound—sharp, jarring—echoed from downstairs.
They both froze.
Fletcher moved first, stepping away and grabbing the Glock from the drawer. He handed her a second handgun, smaller, but still deadly. “I know how much you hate these, but?—”
“No, I’m good.” She nodded. “I’ve been practicing with Audra, just like you asked me to.”
“Stay behind me.”
They crept down the stairs in silence, the creak of the old wood beneath their feet sounding like thunder in the otherwise still house.
The living room light was on.
Baily’s heart jumped to her throat. They always turned that light off.
They rounded the corner into the open kitchen.
“Don’t move.” A man’s voice. Cold. Familiar.
And there they stood.
Julie. Damen. Valenia.
And Bingo.
Bingo was on his knees, a split lip and blood at his temple, with his arms yanked behind his back. A gun pressed to his head by Julie with her perfectly manicured hands.
Valenia stood behind her with a small duffel bag in one hand. Damen looked bored—like he was at a PTA meeting and not holding a young man’s life in the balance.
