by Rachel Lacey
“I can tell you that they are related,” the district attorney answered.
Olivia rocked back on her heels, stunned. The sheriff had been behind the attacks on her house and website? Why? This made no sense.
Pete had figured it out. He’d had his own boss removed from office. For her.
No, that wasn’t true. He’d have done it no matter what, because Pete always stood for what was right. But he had believed in her and fought for her when no one else in his department had. And that meant a hell of a lot.
The press conference dragged on with more questions. Olivia made her way to the back of the crowd, still in a bit of a daze.
“Olivia—”
She heard a woman’s voice calling her name and turned to find Diana Robbins rushing toward her, camera crew in tow. For once, she didn’t want to be on camera. Her emotions were too fresh and raw. But she forced a smile anyway, because Diana had given her a lot of wonderful exposure for her cause.
“Olivia, can we get your reaction to this news?” Diana asked.
“I’m shocked,” she answered honestly. “I don’t really understand it yet, but I’m so glad they’ve caught who was harassing me.”
“You must be incredibly relieved. Can you remind our viewers about everything you’ve gone through in the last month?”
“Well, my house and car have been repeatedly vandalized, and the Citizens Against Halverson Foods website was hacked and later deleted completely.”
Diana shook her head. “Awful. We’re glad that justice has been served.”
“Thank you. Me too.” Olivia mentioned her new website for The Face of Factory Farming, and then Diana thanked her and headed off to get some other footage for tonight’s segment.
“Excuse me.”
Olivia turned to find herself facing a middle-aged man in a well-tailored blue suit. He extended a hand. “I’m Michael Hale, the CEO of Halverson Foods.”
She recoiled, just slightly, but forced herself to take his hand. “Olivia Bennett.”
He nodded. “I was hoping to meet you. When my local GM called me yesterday to fill me in on what was happening, I flew straight here to Dogwood.”
“Oh. Where are you from?” She still had no idea why he was here, talking to her, of all people. What a bizarre morning.
“We’re headquartered in Houston. I’m not involved much in the day-to-day operations of our local plants, but I’ve been made aware that there are some issues here in North Carolina that require my attention, and I’d very much like to sit and talk to you in depth about your concerns.”
Olivia blinked. “Really?”
“I take your allegations very seriously, Miss Bennett. Are you free this morning?”
“Um.” She’d probably get fired from the thrift shop if she took the morning off, but this was too important to pass up. And who cared if she got fired again if she was moving to New York anyway? “Yes. Yes, I’m free, and I’d love to talk with you about my concerns.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Pete was going out of his mind. He’d glimpsed Olivia in the crowd that morning and seen her interview on the Channel Two news, but he’d had to wait until he got off duty at three to find her. Except when he’d gone to the thrift shop, she wasn’t there. She wasn’t home either.
Her house was dark.
Had she already left town?
The thought left him feeling strangled. But no, surely she couldn’t have left yet. Desperate, he texted her. Where are you?
His phone was silent for five long minutes as he sat on her front steps, feeling like he might implode if she didn’t answer. Finally, it buzzed.
MacArthur Park.
Of course. He jumped into his car and raced across town, trying hard to stick to the speed limit. He parked next to her red Prius and walked toward the big pecan tree. Beneath it, Olivia sat on a blanket, her back to him, her hair a waterfall of corn silk over her shoulders.
“Olivia.” His voice was barely more than a whisper.
“Thank you,” she said without turning. “You believed in me when no one else in your department did. I’ll never forget that.”
Her words sounded terrifyingly final, like a good-bye he no longer wanted to say.
“You’re welcome.” He sat beside her, his heart pounding so hard his ribs felt bruised. How had he ever thought he could give her up?
“Why did he do it?” she asked.
“Because Halverson Foods is one of his biggest campaign supporters.”
“Ah.” She nodded. “That makes sense now. You took down a dirty sheriff. That takes balls, deputy.”
“Actually, it’s Detective now. I got promoted this morning.”
She turned toward him then, her brown eyes bright against the setting sun. “That’s fantastic, Pete. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” He’d achieved his lifelong dream. And suddenly it felt hollow. None of it meant anything without Olivia here to share it with.
“You’ve worked so hard for this moment.” She squeezed his hand. “I’m so proud of you.”
“It’s been a long time coming. Why aren’t you at the thrift shop?”
She ducked her head with a shy smile. “I got fired.”
“Again? What did you do this time?”
“I called out for the morning. Being only my sixth day of work and with my reputation, that didn’t go over well.”
“Because of the job in New York?”
She shook her head. “Because I was meeting with Michael Hale, the CEO of Halverson Foods.”
He sat up straighter. “What?”
“We talked for almost two hours. Nothing I had sent to Halverson Foods over the past year and a half had made its way up the chain to him, so I gave him the undercover videos and all the information we’d collected, and he gave me his direct line in case it happens again. He promised to send someone in to revamp the Dogwood plant to prevent this kind of abuse from continuing to occur.”
“Liv—” He clasped her hands in his. “That’s great. You did it.”
She grinned, her eyes glossy. “I did.”
He tugged her closer and pressed his lips to hers. “You are absolutely amazing, you know that?”
She pulled back as two tears splashed over her cheeks. “Well, I don’t screw up all the time, anyway.”
“You’re perfect. You’re everything.” He gripped her hands tighter. “I’ll come to New York with you, if you’ll still have me.”
She made a choking sound. “What?”
“I love you, Olivia, so much that I don’t know what to do or who I am when I’m not with you. You were right. I was acting like a coward, but I’m not afraid anymore.”
More tears splashed over her cheeks, and her chest heaved. “Did you just say what I think you said?”
He dragged in a breath, still clutching her hands in his. “I did, but you haven’t said it back yet. I love you, Olivia.”
She giggled through her tears. “Actually I meant that you said I was right. But I love you too.”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, feeling whole in a way he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt before. He had Olivia to thank for that. She’d changed him, challenged him, made him a better man.
“You smell like cinnamon,” she whispered against his lips.
“I had trouble sleeping last night.”
“It reminds me of the night we met.”
He grunted. “You’re never going to quit bringing that up, are you?”
Her eyes twinkled. “It’ll make a great story to tell the kids someday.”
He took a deep breath and blew it out with a smile. “Kids?”
She winked. “You know, if we decide to have kids.”
“I’m not sure if we’d want them to know about their mother’s law-breaking heyday.”
She giggled again, then her expression sobered. “I didn’t take the job in New York.”
He sat back. “What? Why not?”
“I don’t want to leave Dogwood
. It was one of those jobs that would have consumed my whole life, and it dealt primarily with domestic dogs and cats. My real passion is the plight of factory-farmed animals.”
He shook his head. “You are something else.”
“I know.” She leaned back against his chest. The sun sent long shadows across the grass before them as it began its final slide toward the horizon.
“So you’re staying.” That was taking a minute to sink in. He’d spent the afternoon preparing himself to leave Dogwood behind, and relief swamped him that he wouldn’t have to.
“I’ll find a job here. I never really wanted to go, you know. I wanted you to give me a reason to stay.” She turned and smiled at him over her shoulder.
The sincerity in her eyes drove right into his heart. He pulled her into his lap and held her close, her heart thumping against his. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”
“It’s okay.” She touched his cheek, then pressed a kiss to his lips. “We have the rest of our lives to live happily ever after.”
EPILOGUE
Olivia stared at the bouquet of brightly colored Gerbera daisies. To her right, Merry jockeyed for position. She’d kicked off her high heels, her bare feet visible beneath the lavender folds of her bridesmaid dress.
The two of them, along with Cara’s sister Susie and a handful of other single wedding guests, had gathered on the beach for the bouquet toss. In front of them, Cara stood holding her flowers, radiant in her white dress, her strawberry blond hair pulled back from her face and pinned with jeweled clasps.
Olivia’s heart ached with joy to see her friend so gloriously happy, married now to the love of her life. Matt stood nearby, watching his new wife and looking like the happiest man on the planet.
“Ready?” Cara turned her back. “Three, two, one…”
The bouquet sailed through the air and right into Merry’s arms.
“Yes!” Merry high-fived Olivia, then turned to find T.J. “See this?”
He tipped his cowboy hat with a promising smile. “I see it. Let’s go for a walk on the beach.”
“Hmph.” Olivia feigned an attitude. “You totally rigged that toss, Mrs. Dumont.”
Cara shrugged with a giddy smile. “Maybe I did. You’ll catch the next one…look.” She gestured down the beach.
There, against the sunset with waves crashing behind them, T.J. was on one knee in the sand. Merry stood, one hand pressed to her mouth, her curly hair whipping in the ocean breeze.
“Oh, my God.” Olivia clapped a hand to her mouth. “Oh!”
She grabbed Cara for a hug as they watched Merry and T.J. embracing farther down the beach.
“This is the best day ever,” Cara said.
“I agree,” Matt said, from behind them. “Mind if I cut in?”
“Not at all.” Olivia stepped back and straight into Pete’s arms.
“Hey,” he whispered against her neck, “did you see what I just saw?”
“T.J. proposing to Merry?”
He nodded, looking mouth-wateringly handsome in a suit and tie, his dark hair freshly trimmed. She kissed him, inhaling his cinnamon scent. They’d been up half the night baking pastries for Cara’s wedding guests. And doing other—slightly naughty—things in the kitchen.
“Looks like there’s another wedding in our future.” She wrapped her arms around him and rested her cheek against his chest.
“And another after that.” He rubbed his thumb over her ring finger, and her heart gave a happy little lurch in her chest.
“Yes.”
“Don’t say yes yet.” He traced a finger across her cheek. “Because when I ask, I want to do it right. Like that.” He tipped his head toward Merry and T.J.
When I ask. She liked the sound of that. In fact, life was pretty awesome these days.
Not long after she’d been fired from the thrift store and reunited with Pete, Olivia was offered a job at the Dogwood County Animal Shelter as their Community Outreach Manager. She now managed the shelter’s social media efforts, coordinated fund-raising opportunities, and she always dedicated at least one afternoon a week to her unofficial duty as adoption counselor. As it turned out, she had a real knack for matching families with their new best friend.
The job was fun and rewarding, and when she wasn’t at work, her Face of Factory Farming campaign took up the majority of her free time. The site had really taken off, and she’d recently met with one of her senators to draft up legislation to provide better protection for factory-farmed chickens in the state of North Carolina. As for Halverson Foods, Michael Hale had invited her out to tour the Dogwood facility last month to show her the new protocols that had been put in place.
“Let’s dance.” Pete took her hand and led her toward the outdoor dance floor. Cara and Matt had chosen this beachside restaurant in the Outer Banks for the site of their wedding, and everything about it had been perfect.
“I love you.” Olivia settled closer in Pete’s arms as they swayed to the strains of “At Last” beneath strands of twinkling lights.
“Love you too.” His eyes reflected his words, making her feel all warm and gooey inside.
He and Timber had moved in at Christmastime, and they’d recently made arrangements to buy the little house on Peachtree Lane from Merry.
“I was thinking,” he said, pulling her closer against him.
“Yeah?”
“When you were teaching me how to meditate, you kept telling me to find my center and my happy place, but the truth is that you’re my center. Wherever you are is where I need to be.”
And he brought his lips to hers in a kiss that stole her heart and melted her knees. Because as it turned out, he was her center too. At home, in a tent, or beneath the stars, as long as she had Pete at her side, the world was her happy place.
Cara Medlen has one rule: Don’t get attached. It’s worked well with the foster dogs she’s rescued and given to good homes. But when she meets her incredibly sexy neighbor, Cara will learn that some rules are made to be broken.
See the next page for an excerpt from
Unleashed
CHAPTER ONE
Cara Medlen felt the growl before she heard it, rumbling against her leg from the dog tensed at her side. She jiggled the leash to break his concentration. “Easy, Casper. You may not realize it yet, but today’s your lucky day.”
He looked up at her with dull eyes, one brown, one blue. A jagged scar creased his face. Ribs and hip bones jutted through his mangy white coat. And, oh boy, did he stink. Cara had yet to meet an ugly boxer, but Casper… well, he had the sort of face that made people cross to the other side of the street.
That same face grabbed at a tender spot in her heart.
“It’s a blessing that Triangle Boxer Rescue can take him,” the woman behind the desk, a volunteer named Helen, said. “Shelter life hasn’t been good for him.”
Cara nodded as she handed the signed paperwork to Helen. “I’ve worked with a lot of dogs like Casper. I’m sure we’ll have him ready for adoption in no time.”
But the warning she’d received from her homeowners’ association over the summer weighed heavily on her mind: Keep her foster dogs in line or face disciplinary action by the board.
The door to the kennels opened, allowing raucous barking to spill into the lobby. Casper peered around her and fixed his gaze on the man who’d come through the door. His ears flattened, and the hair raised along his spine.
Yep, this dog was trouble all right.
Cara sidestepped to block his view. “Thanks, Helen. Happy New Year.”
With a quick wave, she hustled Casper out the front door. He tucked his tail against the cold air, then raised his nose and sniffed the sweet scent of freedom. He slunk onto the brown patchy grass of the shelter’s front lawn and raised his leg on a tree.
When he’d finished, she loaded him into the backseat of her little blue Mazda. She smoothed her hands over her black dress, wrinkled since the funeral by hours in the car and now covered in Ca
sper’s white fur. The ache in her chest rose up, squeezing her throat, and she shoved it back.
Later, she’d grieve. Now she needed to get Casper home.
She swung into the front seat and cranked the engine. “So, you’ve officially been sprung from doggy jail.”
He gave her a wary look, then turned his head to stare out the window. She pulled onto High Street and took the ramp to Interstate 85, headed for her townhouse in Dogwood, a small town on the outskirts of Raleigh, North Carolina.
“But listen, no more shenanigans, okay?”
Casper cocked his head, his mismatched eyes somber.
“One of my fosters growled at my neighbor’s dog, and she filed a complaint against me with the homeowners’ association, so I need you to be on your best behavior.”
With a dramatic sigh, he sprawled across the backseat and closed his eyes. Well, she’d take that as a yes. She’d put in a few extra hours of behavior training with him in the meantime, just to be sure. Casper slept for the next hour as Cara drove them home.
The latest Taylor Swift single strummed happily from inside her purse, and she shoved a hand inside to grab her cell phone. Merry Atwater’s name showed on the display. “Hey, Merry.”
“Hey. Just wanted to see how you’re holding up,” Merry said. “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”
Cara tightened her grip on the steering wheel, blinking away the image of Gina’s pale face inside the casket. “I’m okay, or I will be.”
“Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry. Let me know if there’s anything I can do. Are you still planning to go out tonight?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there, just maybe late. Casper and I have some acquainting to do.”
“How is he?” Merry shifted into her professional voice. As the founder of Triangle Boxer Rescue, she had a vested interest in every dog they saved. Cara had no idea where she found the time to run a rescue on top of her day job as a pediatric nurse, but Merry somehow managed to juggle the two.
