“Yeah it is. Good times and bad. That’s the deal, right? You and me and whatever comes our way.”
She went up on tiptoe, wrapped her arms around his neck, and hugged him tight and didn’t let go. “You are the best man I know. Whatever happens, I’m so lucky we’ve shared this amazing thing between us.”
“Don’t talk like it’s going to end.”
“Not if I can help it.”
He stepped back and took her by the shoulders. “We’re going to have everything we talked about this morning and more.”
She gave him a quick kiss. “I hope so.” With that, she walked up to the house and went up to the room they shared together. They dreamed of making the cabin home. A space for the two of them to spread out and fill with their things and their memories.
If Clint thought he could jeopardize that or take it away from her, he had another think coming. She was tired of playing defense. Time to take action.
So she showered, changed, grabbed the empty duffel bags so she could pack up more of her things and bring them here, and headed out.
Of course, Tate spotted her coming and met her by her car. “I’ll take you into town.”
“I’m doing this on my own. Need anything?”
“Just you.” The sweet talker, he always knew just what to say.
“I’ll be home soon.”
He smiled that she called this place home. Truthfully, she’d be at home wherever she was with him.
They shared a goodbye kiss that promised there’d be a lot more of them waiting for her when she returned.
“Don’t be too long. I won’t have anything fun to do here while you’re gone.”
She beamed. “I like the fun things we do.” She purred out the words to tempt, tease, and flirt, and also to let him know she had her feet back under her after Clint knocked her for a loop this morning.
She tossed the bags in the back seat, jumped in behind the wheel, waved to Tate, and headed out. A surprise waited at the end of the long driveway and just a few hundred feet down the main road where Clint’s car was being pulled out of a ditch where the front end had struck a tree. Not much damage from what she could see, but it could have been a hell of a lot worse. The winding road was dangerous at night with deer and other animals crossing. You had to be alert. Driving it drunk—she shook her head—stupid and careless. He could have killed someone, or been killed if he slammed into a deer.
Well, she wasn’t going to be stupid or careless about the situation with Clint.
She had a few ideas of ways to protect herself.
Clint might think she was an easy target. If he came after her again, he’d find out differently and regret it.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Tate spent the last four hours with his gut tied in knots. With Clint in jail, he didn’t need to worry about him confronting Liz. He called Detective Valdez to make sure he knew about the arrest. Valdez assured Tate he was working on making a murder charge stick. So far he had no witnesses who had seen Clint with Aubrey out by the lake and bridge.
The trespassing and assault may be the only thing that stuck to Clint.
Tate wanted to hit something.
Liz had woken up happy and excited about their future. Five minutes with Clint and he ruined another day for her.
“She’s back,” Declan called from the front of the stables where he signed off on a hay delivery.
Tate left the tractor carburetor he’d been cleaning on the workbench, grabbed a rag to wipe off his hands, and headed for the door.
“She looks tired.”
Yeah, well, they didn’t get much sleep last night and she had a rough morning. But he planned to make sure she had a good night.
Declan slapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll finish with the tractor. Go take care of her.”
Tate appreciated it, but hated to leave even more work for Declan, who put in more than his fair share of hours. “I’ll finish up before I take her to dinner.”
Declan gave him a shove toward the house. “Go make her smile.”
“My favorite thing to do.”
Declan seemed to catch the innuendo and headed in to finish putting the tractor engine back together. The last thing Declan needed right now was more things to solve. If the fix worked, Declan could end his day on a