When the Bough Breaks (Rose Gardner Investigations #6) - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,92

the kids sooner, the benefits far outweighed the risk. But Joe would insist on coming, and he’d likely want to bring more deputies. One look at any of them, Joe included, and she’d take off running.

No, this was something I had to handle by myself. In the unlikely event things went awry, Dermot had it covered.

The baby shifted before another contraction kicked in. I had just finished riding it out when Joe came running toward me with fear in his eyes. With good reason—I had never shown up at a crime scene before, and he had to fear something terrible had happened.

“Rose?” he called out, still six feet away. “What’s wrong?”

He stopped in front of me, grabbing hold of my arms as he searched me for injuries.

I slowly shook my head, tears springing to my eyes. “So much is wrong, but it finally became clear to me that one thing is very, very right.” Lifting my hands to his cheeks, I stared up at him, wondering why it had taken me so long to figure out something as obvious as the nose on my face.

Confusion washed over his features, then hope.

He slipped an arm around my back, slowly pulling me close like he’d done with our first kiss on Momma’s front porch nearly two years ago. Only now, our baby was between us, and I couldn’t mold my body to his like I’d done that night. Instead, our bodies cradled the baby we would be raising together. A strange sensation stole over me, as if the past and the future were brushing into the present, filling it out as if with a painter’s fine-pointed brush.

I smiled up at Joe, brushing my thumb across his cheek, tears stinging my eyes, and he smiled back.

The first time I’d kissed Joe had been playful and tender. It was my first kiss and he’d known it. He’d laughed at my request to make it a good one.

There was no laughter this time. We’d traveled a weary path to reach this place. We’d shared laughter, to be sure, and I knew there would be plenty more of it, but this moment was one of reverence. When he held back, I realized he was waiting for me to come to him—he’d pulled me to him, but he was giving me one last chance to decide, to change my mind. Which only made me more certain this was right.

Closing my eyes, I lifted onto my tiptoes and spanned the remaining distance between us to press my lips to his. That strange feeling, of the past and future converging in one moment, washed over me again. It was a feeling of forever, I realized. Feeling his mouth on mine again sent a rush of butterflies through my stomach, as if it really was our first kiss, but the sensation was deeper for the fact that we’d walked through fire and found each other on the other side.

Longing filled my soul as Joe lifted his hand to my cheek, deepening the kiss but keeping it just as tender, just as reverent, and I felt cherished, worshipped. Understood. He knew me now, truly knew me, and he loved me more than he had in the beginning, and the same was true of my feelings for him.

Joe released a growl, pulling me closer, and a fire rushed through my body, making me forget everything around us. There was only me and this man and our future, and I took everything he offered and more.

When he pulled back, panting, he searched my eyes.

“I love you, Joe,” I said. “I want you to belong to the baby, but I want you to be mine too.”

Still cupping my cheek, he stared at me in amazement. Hope poured from him like light. “But… are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.”

He kissed me again, softer this time, and the passion blended with contentment and peace.

“Uh… Chief Deputy Simmons,” someone called out.

Joe lifted his head and kept his arm protectively around me as he turned to face Deputy Randy Miller, who was smiling from ear to ear.

“I really hate to interrupt.” His grin spread. “Like really hate to interrupt…” Then his expression turned serious. “The forensics team has something they want to show you.”

Joe looked torn.

I gave him a quick kiss on the mouth. “I’m not here to keep you. Only to give you that message.”

His gaze searched my face, as though looking for something. He must have found it because he