details that you just shared with us, but I knew you were alone with her when it happened and that he’d lied about it to the authorities.”
Justin couldn’t believe they’d known, but he understood what Preacher had done because if he’d had the opportunity to face each of Chloe’s attackers, he would have done it. “Why didn’t you say something to me?”
“Because we didn’t know if you remembered, and we were afraid that if you didn’t, we’d cause more trauma for you,” Reba said.
“We talked to a child psychologist,” Preacher explained. “You had so much to overcome, we didn’t want to unearth more ghosts. We felt confident that if you remembered, you would let us know in your own time. Remember, we had you talking with a therapist, and we relied on her to let us know if we should do anything differently.”
“I talked to her about this. Did she tell you?” Justin asked.
Reba said, “No, honey. We weren’t privy to anything you said in those sessions. She just assured us that if she felt we should intervene, she would let us know.”
“I don’t know if we did the right thing or not, son, but we did the best we could by you.” Preacher glanced at Reba with a sorrowful expression. Then he said, “And we’d understand if this changes things between us.”
“You once told me that love was a powerful force. Too powerful to be outdone by reason. This changes everything,” Justin said honestly. “For the better.”
Reba’s breath rushed from her lungs, carrying sounds of relief, and more tears sprang from her eyes as she went to him. He rose to his feet, taking her in his arms. Her tears wet his cheeks as she said, “We love you, sweetheart.”
Preacher’s strong arms circled them both, and Justin was swamped with love, gratitude, and relief.
“I have to come clean with you about something, son.” Preacher put his arm around Reba as he said, “Your mom and I aren’t perfect.”
They laughed, and Justin said, “Maybe not for some folks, but you’re perfect enough for me.”
CHLOE AWOKE TO the dogs bounding off the blankets as Justin came through the front door. Sun shone through the glass walls of the cantilevered room overlooking the pond where they’d fallen asleep last night. Her gaze moved to the large piece of driftwood with inlaid candles from Artsea, the cute shop in Harborside. Justin had surprised her with it when she’d come home from her first day back at work. The piece was perfect for the room, and making love by candlelight had become one of her favorite things, right up there with dancing in the moonlight with her favorite person—the rugged bad boy who was closing the distance between them with a to-go coffee cup and a Blue Willow Bakery bag in his hands, and their four-legged boys by his side.
Justin crouched beside her and kissed her cheek. “Morning, beautiful.”
“Hi,” she said sleepily. “What time is it?”
“Early.” The dogs nosed the bakery bag. “I brought you muffins and bagels.”
“Mm. Special occasion?”
He kissed her neck and said, “Just stockpiling nooky points.” He took her hand and said, “Come with me to my studio? I want to show you something.”
“Do I finally get to see the sculpture, Mr. Mysterious?” Giddy excitement bubbled up inside her, and she popped up to her feet. He’d been working long hours in the studio, and the last couple of weeks, he hadn’t allowed her to see the sculpture.
He led her to the front door, and with a coy smile, he said, “If you play your cards right.”
“I kept you up playing all night long. That should count for something.”
As she slipped her feet into a pair of flip-flops, he reached into the coat closet. He pulled out one of his zip-up sweatshirts and helped her put it on over her sleeping shorts and top. His eyes darkened as he said, “Your smart mouth does me in every time.”
He took her in a toe-curling kiss.
Every time he talked about her mouth like that, she got as hot and bothered as if he’d touched her all over. Last night he’d said it as she was doing all sorts of delicious things to him. She’d amped up her efforts, and they’d both gone a little wild.
She heated with the memory as they headed down to the studio with Sampson and Shadow. The dogs ran around the studio sniffing everything. The sculpture for the rally sat on the floor in the middle of the room,