by Julie Benson
She could live with embarrassment. Could she live with regret? With wondering what could have been? Her finger rubbed the lapis stone on her ring. Wisdom and fortitude. The ring had never reminded her of those things. Rather it served as a shield, her excuse to separate herself from the world, to never risk getting hurt in a relationship for fear of repeating her parents’ mistake.
She opened her middle desk drawer, slid the ring off her finger, placed it inside, and closed the drawer. If she made mistakes, fine. She’d cope with them, but at least they’d be hers. She grabbed her phone, yanked the lower drawer where she stashed her purse and pulled that out too. Racing out of her office, she prayed she wasn’t too late.
After loading his belongings in his pickup, AJ drove to the courthouse to officially drop off his keys.
“For being here such a short time, you sure got some things done.” Marjorie accepted his keys, and placed them in her middle desk drawer.
“If it weren’t near one hundred in the shade outside, I’d swear Hell had frozen over.” He smiled, thinking of the irony. He’d earned her respect, but wouldn’t be around to enjoy the fact. “That means a lot coming from you.”
“I’m a firm believer in expecting a lot out of folks, but giving credit where it’s due.” Marjorie flashed him a curious stare. “I’ve got to ask what you said to Mason and Virgil. This is the first time since I’ve worked here one of them hasn’t called in a week.”
“I said I didn’t care what their problem was. Virgil better keep his animals on his property, and Mason should apologize for what he did to make Virgil want revenge. When they gave me lip, I said if they didn’t work it out, I’d lock them in a cell, post you as a guard, and leave them there until they did.” He grinned at his dispatcher. His former dispatcher. “That scared the daylights out of ’em.”
The older woman laughed. “I would’ve enjoyed that duty.”
And Marjorie would’ve straightened out the problem in five minutes. Why hadn’t he thought of that solution sooner? He could’ve eliminated a lot of headaches.
Marjorie patted his arm. “You did good with Ethan Bonner, too. He’s been a different kid since you had that come-to-Jesus meeting with him.”
“How do you know about that?” Then he chuckled, and waved his hand through the air. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
The CIA should study Marjorie’s spy network.
“God rest his soul, but Chief Weston would’ve gotten caught in his own rope on that one. He wouldn’t have come down on Ethan, and Lord knows that wouldn’t have helped. That boy was heading for trouble as sure as I’m sitting here.”
Good, then his time in Wishing hadn’t been a complete waste. Not earth-shattering work, but better than a kick in the teeth from an angry mule.
“Two compliments in one day?” AJ glanced over his shoulder to the front door. “I’m wondering if my head will still fit through there when I leave.”
“You still need some work, but you were coming along.”
There was the Marjorie he knew.
“Too bad you can’t take Sawyer in hand. He needs a firm hand, too. His daddy raised him to think he walks on water, and one day that boy will sink.” The older woman peered at AJ over her glasses.
“The next chief will do that.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Word is Sawyer’s got his eye on the job, and Mayor Timmons might give in. With poor Chief Mitchell’s death, and losing you, the mayor wants someone who’ll stay put. He figures what better way to do that than to hire someone on the force who grew up here. But I think our good mayor’s view is clouded by his friendship with Sawyer’s daddy.”
While AJ might not be objective in regards to his assistant chief, if Marjorie, who knew the position and Sawyer better, agreed with him, his assessment couldn’t be far off. “I’ll call the mayor tomorrow.”
“I wish you’d think about staying.”
He stared at the woman as if she’d said he should wear burnt orange and attend a UT football game. He couldn’t change who he was. He explained about his father, and the promise he’d made. “I can make a greater impact with the FBI than I can here.”
Or at least he hoped to again one day when he worked his way back to where he’d been before committing career harakiri.
“You sound so sure about that.” Her tone indicated she thought him out-and-out wrong. “Let me tell you a little story. There was a woman whose husband used to beat the tar outta her ’cause he blamed her for all his troubles. If it rained, if it didn’t. If he was late for work. Didn’t matter what happened. It was her fault. Having grown up poor white trash, she didn’t think she deserved better.”
He couldn’t imagine the strong, confident, take-no-prisoners woman in front of him living that life.
“Not having schooling past tenth grade, when she’d finally had her fill and decided to leave after he knocked out two teeth, broke her arm, and put her in the hospital for three days, finding a job was downright impossible. Chief Weston took pity on her. When she was overwhelmed in the job, he said he believed in her.” Tears misted the older woman’s eyes. Then she inhaled deeply, pointed her chin in the air, and the fire lit up her gaze. “If you ask me, making that kind of impact on someone’s life is as big as solving cases with the FBI. In some ways it’s greater, because it’s personal. So don’t you dare think what you did here wasn’t important.”
Personal. Changes made in a life through taking time to show one person she mattered. Small changes from his perspective. Monumental from another one.
Marjorie glanced over his shoulder out the front window, and frowned. AJ followed her concerned gaze, noting the darkening sky. “I best get going to beat the storm.”
“From the looks of the clouds, it’s rolling in sooner than Pete Dantzler predicted. Be careful. He said they had potential to be tornado producers.”
“If the weather turns nasty tell whoever alerts Mabel Cantor I had to pound on her bedroom window before she heard me last time.”
Marjorie shooed him away with a wave of her hand. “Will do. Now git.”
A few minutes later, as AJ drove out of town, ominous dark clouds covered the sky and the rain dotted his windshield. He turned on his wipers, and his mother’s voice echoed in his head with bits of conversations from the weekend his father died. He’d told his mother about his plans to join the Air Force, and how he’d leave his mark the way his father had. How he’d live his life as his father intended.
The greatest mark your father left on this world is you and your sisters. The most important job he felt he ever had was as your father. You’re his legacy.
Last Sunday, when he’d talked to his mom, she’d been concerned he worked too hard. What his mother said ran through his mind. I want your life to be everything you want it to be. But most of all, I want you to be happy. Just make sure you’re not so busy trying to live the life you think your father wanted you to, that you don’t live your life.
The biggest gains in life often came after taking the biggest risks. Maybe fate had been trying to tell him something. That he needed to realign his priorities. He thought about the agents he knew. Most of those who’d gone the farthest with the Bureau were single. Some never married, but most were divorced. A bunch multiple times. The ones with children struggled to maintain those relationships.
Did he want to risk waking up in twenty years, alone in his cold bed, and realizing he’d missed out on half of life’s joys? That he’d walked away from the woman he loved and the future he could build with her for a job? At the end of his life, who would he want sitting beside him?
Grace, their children, and maybe even some grandchildren.
Who would’ve guessed Zane would be right? Especially about love? But Mr. Love ’Em and Leave ’Em had hit the bull’s-eye. He either loved Grace or he didn’t. And if he did, that trumped everything else.
To hell with Masters and the transfer. The job wasn’t worth losing a future with Grace.
AJ glanced in h
is rearview mirror. When he found the road clear, he executed a U-turn and headed toward the lake. A couple of minutes later he spotted a horse in the distance. A white horse. No, it couldn’t be. He’d left Lu in the Bar 7 barn.
As if that made a difference.
Lightning slashed across the sky, followed a bare five seconds later with deafening thunder. The air pressure dropped, and the rain picked up. Damn. The skies could let loose any minute, and Marjorie claimed the storm could produce tornadoes. He couldn’t leave Lu here. If he hurried, he might get her to Ty’s place before the storm hit full force.
He pulled onto the shoulder, turned on his flashers, and killed the engine. When he got out of his truck, Lu trotted right to him, and snuggled up. “You’re becoming more trouble than you’re worth.”
She shook her head, and snorted at him as he hopped on her back. “Let’s get you back to the barn.”
Unfortunately, Lu had other ideas on their destination.
Please let me be in time.
The plea hammered in Grace’s head as she raced over the pothole-riddled two lane highway between the inn and AJ’s rental house. Minutes later she pulled into the driveway at the Wilson place, but no big blue pickup. Her heart dropped. Despite that, she parked and dashed up the walkway to the porch. Pounding on the door, she called AJ’s name. Desperate, she turned the knob. Locked. She rested her head against the door. The wind churning around her brushed peeling paint against her skin. Rain slid off the porch, bouncing onto the ground.
She’d waited too long.
No, she refused to accept the fact. She straightened, dug her phone out her purse, ignored her guilt over sending Cassie a text on her honeymoon, and typed a message. Need AJ’s phone number, and a lot of luck. Love you. Then she hit send.
Now she waited. Deciding to return to the inn, she turned to her car, and froze. She blinked once. Twice. Then she shut her eyes for a few seconds. Wishful thinking has me seeing things. But when she opened them, the same magnificent sight greeted her—AJ on Lu’s back riding down the driveway.
Rain pelted her face, mixing with her tears, blurring her vision as she raced toward him. By the time she reached him, he’d dismounted. This couldn’t be real. Not with her recent run of bad luck. Please, even if it uses my lifetime supply of good fortune, give me this. She poked him in the middle of his broad chest. “You’re really here.”
He nodded. “I found Lu on the road. She refused to go anywhere but here.”
Lu. If he hadn’t found her wandering, he’d be halfway to Houston.
The wind blasted over her damp clothes making her shiver. She wrapped her arms around her middle trying to ward off the chill spreading through her, fearing she’d never be warm again.
She’d thought she could survive the embarrassment if she found him and discovered he didn’t want her. Now she wasn’t sure.
“What’re you doing here?” he asked.
She’d come this far, and refused to chicken out. She had to know if there was a chance for them. “I came here hoping to catch you before you left. I don’t want you to leave. I want you to stay here. With me.”
AJ scooped her into his arms, spun her around and let out a deep, whoop sound rivaling the distant thunder for sound production.
“I want to stay here with you. More than anything.” He lowered her feet to the ground, and his lips covered hers. All the love and longing she felt for him poured out of her. Her hands clutched his shoulders.
When he ended their kiss, and he gazed down at her, the material under her palms grew damp. “I don’t want any secrets between us, and I’ll never lie to you again.”
Her stomach dropped to her toes. Here it comes. The big bad but. She braced. Calm down. How bad could it be when he said he wanted you in his life?
She forced herself to push air in and out of her lungs as he explained how, just before the night at The Horseshoe, he’d learned his boss wanted to put him in charge of a new Joint Terrorism Task Force. But in order to be put in for the promotion, AJ needed to wrap up the forgery case in two days. “He said I should ask you to be an informant. I said no. I couldn’t ask you to do that. Not after what you’ve been through. His response was to say I should request a transfer, and not to expect much of a reference. The best I can hope for is a job in rural North Dakota.”
The blood rushed out of her head, leaving her lightheaded as the depth of his sacrifice, the one he’d made to protect her, rippled through her. “Is there anything that can be done to fix this? Your career means everything to you. I know how important it is for you to make a difference the way your father did.”
He cupped her face in his hands. The intensity of emotion flaring in his beautiful eyes startled her. “My job isn’t everything to me. You mean more to me. I love you, Grace.”
“I love you, too, but your job—”
“I’m going to quit the FBI.”
She shook her head, and stepped away. “I can’t let you do that for me.” Choosing to stay in Wishing was one thing. But staying because he lacked other options? Not good. That would lead to resentment, and nothing killed a relationship faster, except maybe secrets.
“I love you, but I’m not quitting for you. I’m doing it for me. After Masters’ ultimatum I did some soul-searching about what I want out of life. I’ve seen too many agents sacrifice their personal lives, their families for the job. I don’t want to end up on that road. A job isn’t worth giving up a future with you. I’ll apply for the chief position for real this time, but there’s talk that the mayor wants to hire my assistant as chief.”
“Will that be enough for you? I know you want to make your father proud, and you’ve been worried you can’t do that here.”
“Every time I keep my word I honor my dad. When I help someone, I’m putting the values he taught me into action. A wise woman pointed out to me earlier today that what seems insignificant to one person can make a huge difference to someone else. Now that you know all that, where do we go from here?”
There were details to work out, but none of those mattered right now. They loved each other, and wanted a future together. More importantly, they knew having a successful relationship took hard work and honesty. Knowing that and the fact neither of them gave up when they’d set their mind to something, they’d be fine. They’d figure out the details as they went.
She placed her palms against his broad chest. His rapid heartbeat pounded under her palm. “We’ll figure it out, but later. Right now I want to move on to living happily ever after, starting with some great make-up sex.”
Epilogue
“Congratulate me.” AJ tapped his Shiner beer bottle against Ty’s as they stood on the deck at The Bluebonnet Inn. “I’m officially Wishing’s chief of police again.”
In the two weeks since he’d told Grace he loved her, AJ had been happier than he’d ever been. More content. He smiled thinking of Masters’ reaction when he’d quit. Talk about quick backpedaling. Having cooled off, the man tried to talk him into staying, and AJ hadn’t felt one twinge of regret when he said thanks, but no thanks.
Since then, he and Grace spent their days testing out every bed in the inn. The few times they ventured out, they went horseback riding, or hiking, and he’d even got her to try fishing, though she insisted on throwing anything she caught back. And every day he found something new to love about her.
“I still can’t believe Timmons insisted you go through the full interview process,” Ty said, pulling AJ away from the pleasant memories.
“He was playing big shot,” Cassie scoffed as she and Grace stepped out of the kitchen onto the deck.
The mayor had enjoyed making AJ sweat it out for the job. But eventually the rest of the town council’s support, and the petition Grace delivered signed by everyone in town except Sawyer’s family and close friends “encouraging” his hiring, had forced Timmons to give in.
AJ smiled, and turned Grace, “Do you want to tell them our other news?”
Cassie stared poi
ntedly at Grace’s left hand, and frowned. “I don’t see a ring.”
Not yet, but hopefully soon. He still had a few details to work out there. He wanted his proposal to be special. When they’d met she’d accused him of not being able to sweet talk a woman.
“Jasper Wilson accepted our offer on his place,” Grace said, her eyes glowing with excitement for the future ahead of them.
After Ty made a toast to them as landowners, and Cassie hugged the stuffing out of them, AJ turned to Grace and said, “Speaking of our new house, I bought you a housewarming gift.” Then he asked Ty to help him get the gift out of his truck.
As they walked around to the front of the inn, Ty said, “It’s good to see you back to your old self. For a while there you were getting to be a major pain in the ass.”
“I was pissed when the FBI sent me here. Who’d have guessed this detour would show me what really mattered in life?”
His friend chuckled, then stared at him with a stupid grin on his face, and scraped his knuckles along his jaw. “Imagine that. I wonder if there’s something to the legend after all.”
“What’s that about the legend? You mean the wishing well?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Right, and next you’ll tell me you’re a Texas fan,” AJ countered. He’d ask Ty again after he’d had a few beers. Maybe then he’d get the answer out of his buddy.
When they reached his pickup, AJ lowered the tailgate, and hopped in the bed to retrieve the simple oak rockers inside. Simple, but solid and relaxing. The only adornment, the Texas star carved into the center back slat.
“Those for the porch when you get the Wilson place fixed up?” Ty asked, as he accepted the first rocker and placed it on the ground. “Guess we’ll have to quit calling it that.”
“Once Grace and I sign the papers it’ll be the Quinn place.” He handed Ty the second chair, and then hopped out of the truck bed.
When he and Ty returned with the rockers, Grace raced toward him and flung her arms around him. “Rockers for our porch. Thank you. They’re perfect.”
