“No, no, they didn’t. They didn’t give me anything. But yes, they did make me leave. Said they’d have me arrested if I didn’t stay far away.”

Liar. I’d have to push Wendy some more about that transfer. Of course they’d paid Larry. Where else could it have gone? “I don’t believe you.”

“I left. I didn’t come back until after Brad died. I was broke, dead broke. My wife had left me. I needed a job, so the mayor appointed me city attorney. I was a good city attorney, Jade.”

I couldn’t even respond to that. The man was delusional.

“Please, Jade. Brad and Daphne chose to let me go.”

“I don’t think Talon is as forgiving as his parents were. And I can tell you right now I’m not. So unless you tell me who those other two were, I’m leaving and I will see you in court.”

Larry rubbed his forehead. “I wish I could. I can’t.”

I hung up the phone, turned, and walked away.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Talon

“To moving forward.” Jonah lifted his glass of red wine.

I sat at one of the tables out on our beautiful deck, surrounded by the four people I loved most in the world.

My older brother, always so steadfast and strong, always the first to take any blame and possessing such a fierce desire to protect the rest of us. That he hadn’t been able to protect that day me haunted him still, even though I’d begged him to give up the guilt. To move on. Perhaps his toast meant that he would, finally, commit to letting go himself.

My younger brother, the one who’d followed me around when I was a kid, had been a royal pain in my ass but always wanted to slip his little hand in mine and go wherever I went. I was so thankful he had gotten away that day. And because I had protected him and told him to run, I was forever his hero. He would always have my back. But he needed to move on too, just like Joe and I did.

My baby sister, who in her own way had saved me. When I came home, she had just come home from the hospital. Everyone had thought she would die because she was so premature, but little Marjorie was strong. Strong as an ox. So beautiful and so innocent. A tiny porcelain doll who stole my heart as soon as I laid eyes on her. She was the only proof I had back then of any good left in the world. I would’ve done anything for her, and I still would.

And Jade. My beautiful Jade, whose mother was on the mend and with whom she was beginning to make peace. She’d been fighting her own demons, but still, she’d been here for me since she arrived in Snow Creek. I’d tried so hard to push her way at first, but I never had the strength to let her go. And even if I had, she would’ve come barreling back into my life. Because she wasn’t going to let me go. It was through Jade that I had finally learned that I wanted to live. Not just to exist but to live—to embrace life, to hold on to another person. Life would never be easy for me, but with Jade, I would make it. If I started to drown, she would pull me out of the water.

And I would do the same for her.

She was my forever. And it felt so good to finally want a forever.

I raised my glass in tandem with the others. “To moving forward,” we all said together.

Marjorie and Felicia had cooked a celebratory dinner of beef tenderloin with fresh Colorado peach salsa from our own orchard, broccoli rabe, mashed potatoes with garlic and cilantro, and wild mushroom ragout. The table was decorated with three vases of multicolored roses that Marj had brought in from the florist in town. My brothers and sister smiled. Jade sat next to me, squeezing my thigh every now and then when I got quiet, just letting me know that she was there.

That she would always be there.

We didn’t talk about Larry Wade or the fact that he refused to roll over on the other two. We didn’t talk about anything of import really. We just laughed together, cried a little bit together, and committed to moving on.

When it got quiet, I turned to Jade. “Blue eyes?”

“Yeah?”

“I want you to move back in here. Please.”

She bit her lip.

“Oh, please, Jade, please,” Marjorie echoed.

Her beautiful lips burst into that smile I had grown to love so much, that smile that could fix anything that was wrong with my day, with my life.

“All right. I’d love nothing more than to be back here. It’s what I always wanted. But it wasn’t the right time before now.”

We all toasted again while Felicia served us peach cobbler, hot from the oven, topped with vanilla-bean ice cream.

There was a word for how I felt at that moment, a word I hadn’t used in ages to describe anything about myself.

Happy.

 

Later, I took my lovely Jade to bed and let her undress me.

“I want to take care of you tonight,” she said.

I smiled. “Only if you do it while you’re naked.”

She let out an adorable giggle. “If those are your terms, I accept.”

She undressed, more quickly than I wanted her to, but what did it matter, as long as she ended up naked?

“Lie down, baby. On your back. I’m going to worship that gorgeous body of yours.” She smiled.

My cock was already hard for her. I could take her now and be ready for more in no time. “Come and sit on me first,” I said. “I need to be inside you.”

She shook her head, her eyes mischievous. “Oh, no, you don’t. You always get your way in bed. Tonight I’m getting mine.”

My nerves jumped a little. I wasn’t comfortable being submissive. She knew that. I grabbed her and pulled her on top of me for a passionate kiss, reminding her of who was in charge in this room.

The kiss left us both breathless, but she was not to be swayed.

“Please, Talon. Let me take care of you.”

I could deny her nothing. Even though the situation made me uncomfortable, I relented.

“Relax,” she said. “You know I would never harm you.”

And when her soft lips caressed the sensitive skin of my neck, I untied my muscles and let go. She trailed kisses over my shoulder and then down my upper arm and lower arm to my hand, where she kissed each finger and then massaged my hand with her own. She kissed back up to my other arm, repeating her movements, until she stroked her sweet tongue over my chest, licking one of my nipples, which hardened under her touch. She sucked a bit at them, and my cock hardened even further.