sheets for the bed. Yours are terrible. I hope you don’t mind.”
He reached for her hand. “I supplied our house. You make it livable.”
It hadn’t been a home without her. She leaned over and kissed him and then they were all talking. MaeBe was describing how she was definitely taking more self-defense classes. Grace was talking about David’s research, and Sean was going on about the new specials at Top.
Hutch sat back and enjoyed the family he had.
Hours later, while Noelle napped in the chair beside him, Hutch relished the quiet.
“Hey, man,” Kyle said softly. “We’re friends again, right?”
He would be friends with any dude who could duct tape his own body and make it up the stairs in time to knife a guy who was trying to kill him. “Yeah.”
Kyle sighed. “I think you know more about me than you’re saying. I think Michael followed me for a couple of days.”
This was one subject they hadn’t broached. “If he did, it’s only because Big Tag was worried.”
“I was calling a man named Drake.” Kyle let the admission sit for a moment. “That night I snuck out of your house, I called Drake. He was my handler when I did work for the Agency.”
“I know him.”
“I don’t work for him anymore,” Kyle said. “But he was there on the worst day of my life. I don’t think I make it through without Drake. There’s a day that I’m trying to piece together, and he’s helping me. It’s got nothing to do with McKay-Taggart, and the woman at the center of it is dead.”
“Julia?”
Kyle groaned. “Damn, Tag’s good. Yeah. She’s gone. She was working for some bad people and tried to drag me into it. Just know that it’s over and I’m not working for anyone but Tag.”
“Okay.” He believed Kyle. He understood what it meant to have a dark past. He hoped Kyle could find the light.
“I’m going to take you up on that beer someday,” Kyle said quietly.
“Whenever you’re ready,” Hutch promised.
It was what family did. They were there when a man was ready to change.
Noelle’s hand reached out to find his.
He squeezed it and let himself rest.
Epilogue
Papillon, LA
Six months later
Michael Malone looked out over the patio of the bed and breakfast where Hutch’s wedding reception was taking place. He felt that familiar sense of joy with a twinge of regret that he got every time he’d gone to a wedding in the last five or six years.
A lot of his friends had gotten married. His twin had married years ago. JT and Nina had two kids Michael adored. Everyone was settling. Even his ex-fiancée. He’d gotten that invite in the mail and wondered why he’d made the freaking decision to stay friends with her.
Because she was a good woman who deserved all the happiness in the world. She simply hadn’t been right for him, and he hadn’t been the man for her.
He was starting to think there wasn’t a woman in the world for him.
“Hey, did you try the punch?” Big Tag moved in beside him. He’d ditched his jacket and tie and seemed more relaxed for it. “There’s a lot of rum in this sucker.”
“Yeah, it’s an interesting place. And Hutch’s new inlaws seem cool.” They were all out on the dance floor, swaying to the music and enjoying the evening. Hutch was in the middle of it all, his new wife in his arms.
“Oh, this whole place is insane,” Tag said with a smile. “I like it.”
Tag always had loved some well-intentioned chaos. “Did you like the gator? They act like run-ins with large reptiles are no big deal.”
Tag shrugged a big shoulder. “Hutch says his name is Otis and he’s kind of the town’s mascot. I thought he smelled like ass, and he made me happy my girls are content with Bud, who can be easily groomed.”
Maybe he should get a dog and forget the whole wife and kids’ thing. He and Fido could live happily until Fido died and he had to start over again.
He was getting maudlin in his old age.
“You okay?” Taggart asked him the question like he was worried.
When the boss got worried, he tended to do things. Like set a man up. Michael smiled what he hoped was his brightest smile. “Of course. I’m at a wedding. There were some pretty cute bridesmaids.”
Tag’s eyes rolled. “Yeah, you’re really into the mid-twenties set. All of Noelle’s friends are babies.”
He hadn’t noticed. He didn’t notice much of anything these days. He worked