“You need to get back on the sofa.” He bit back the grin, when soft and loving turned to confused then annoyed. “When I get you in my bed, it’s going to be days before I let you out of it.” Before she could reply he said, “One more day.”
Her eyes went wide, then narrowed before she exhaled. “Oh for fuck’s sake. Fine. One more day.”
He drove to the station after a call from Johnny. He’d left Cedar asleep in his bed. She was going to be pissed when she woke, and he was gone. She’d given him one more day, but duty called. He’d make it up to her.
He entered the station and saw Sebastian. “What’s up?”
Sebastian dropped pictures on his desk. “What am I looking at?” he asked of the picture with a bag and what looked like meat inside.
“That’s the heart and stomach of a bear,” Sebastian hissed.
Killian jerked his gaze from the photos to Sebastian. “Where the hell did you find this?”
“In the dumpster outside the market. Kid throwing the trash away saw it. Freaked him out. He thought it was human.”
“Why didn’t I get the call?” Killian demanded.
“I caught it, Boss, knew it was too big to be human. Took it to the vet,” Johnny offered.
“When was this?” Killian asked.
“Last night. Figured you’d want to be home with…”
He was right. “Thanks.”
“So, it’s true.” Sebastian said, but instead of the disdain he always heard, he seemed genuinely happy for him.
“You find the rest of the bear?” he asked.
“No, but this is proof of poachers.”
“My dad made a comment when that rattlesnake attacked Cedar and Cooper. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but snakes usually feed in the morning, but they were attacked late in the day.”
“You think someone lured it, and Cedar and the dogs got in the way.”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe I could talk with her. Get her to tell me where she was?”
“Yeah, come out to my house tonight.”
“Will do.” Sebastian looked energized. “We’re going to get these fuckers.”
Yeah, take out one problem, so he could focus on the other, because a showdown was coming, a real wild west fucking showdown.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cedar
I woke to an empty house. I would be giving him shit for that, Mr. One More Day. The dogs needed to go out. Calling for them, we headed outside. I turned, then froze, when I saw the bluebells on the bench. My head snapped up, and my heart ached as I looked around. My hands shook when I reached for them. I heard the dogs, before I looked over, and there he was. I couldn’t stop the sob that burned up my throat. My legs went weak, but he reached me, and feeling his hands on me again, I couldn’t stop the tears that rolled down my cheeks.
“Are you really here?” I whispered.
“Yeah, Slick.” His voice, god, I’d missed it…him.
I threw my arms around his neck; his went around me. He felt different; he wasn’t the boy he’d been, but a man, and I’d missed it, all those years. I didn’t know how long we held each other before he released me.
“Why are you here?” I asked.
I looked into those gray eyes I loved, but they were different, too. I saw love, but there was pain, and coldness buried deeper. He ran his thumb over my cheek and my heart crack. “I owe you a goodbye.”
Fresh tears welled. “Stay,” I said, before I really even knew I intended to say it.
“We can’t go back, Slick. I’m not the same person, and I wasn’t good enough for you then, I’m sure as fuck not now.”
“Don’t say that. You were all I ever wanted.”
“You’re all I ever wanted.”
I was having trouble pulling air into my lungs.
“If I could turn back the clocks…” He took my hand. “I’d have done it differently; I’d have held on. I had the dream in my hands.”
“I can’t do this again.” I sobbed. “I can’t lose you again.”
“I needed to tell you.” His voice broke. “It was because of me your parents died.”
“What?”
“I called them…” He walked from me, pulled a hand through his hair. “I called them for help. It was because of me, they were at that intersection.”
He’d been holding on to that. My heart broke all over again as I closed the distance and took his face in my hands. “Is that what you think? My parents loved you. You needed them. What happened was a horrible accident, but they’d have gotten into that car even knowing what their fate was because that is what family does. And you were our family.”
His eyes were bright. “I’m so sorry, Cedar.”
“Me too, but I don’t blame you. I could never blame you.” I studied him, his beloved face that haunted my dreams. “Trouble is coming.”
“Maybe.” His voice went hard. “But it won’t touch you.”
I touched his jacket. “Are they family?”
“As close as I’ll ever have.”
I nodded and lowered my head, because it wasn’t fair that he had to settle, that he had to, once again, take the scraps instead of finding happiness, finding love. He touched my chin and lifted my gaze. “Are you happy?”
“A part of me never will be knowing that you’re out there, surviving but not living. That your hand was forced, your fate decided by that fuck of a father.”
He smiled. “Nice language.”
I laughed because what a ludicrous thing to say. “I’ve changed, too.”
He studied me. “All for the better from where I’m standing, though your wardrobe is kind of tamed.”
It hurt, the happy with the pain. “I’m working on it.”
His jaw clenched before he asked, “Does he make you happy?”
It was so hard because I wouldn’t lie to him, but I knew my answer was going to hurt, because it hurt saying. “He
