Jane couldn’t tear her gaze away from both faces long enough to study the ring. It was enough to know she was wanted so badly. By both of them.
“You haven’t answered,” Reid said.
“Yes, of course! A thousand times yes.” She was laughing and crying all at the same time.
“Yippee!” Will jumped to his feet and enveloped her in a hug before Reid managed to do it. “We’re going to be a real family. When’s the wedding?”
Reid rose and pulled Will away from her. “I think it’s my turn. You’ll be off to college before we can blink, but your mom’s always going to be mine.”
“Mine too,” Will protested. “You both are. I won’t forget my parents when I’m in college. Sheesh, what kind of son do you think I am?”
“The best kind,” Jane said in unison with Reid. She leaned into her new fiancé’s arms and inhaled the spicy scent of his soap and cologne.
“Put the ring on her, Dad. Do I have to tell you everything?”
“Evidently.” Reid was laughing so hard he could barely pull the ring out of its slot and slip it on her finger.
She was intoxicated with happiness, totally spent with joy. Was this real?
She rose on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around Reid’s neck to pull his head down for a kiss. The love and devotion in his lips told of the family she’d always longed for. The perfect place to rest her heart.
Epilogue
The Michigan woods held so many familiar smells for Jane—childhood left behind, fear, longing, joy, despair all mingled with the rich aromas of loamy soil and fallen leaves. The leaves decorated the trees with shades of gold and red, and through a break in the vegetation she spied the old cabin.
She hung on to Reid’s hand, more for his sake than for hers. Today was going to be traumatic when they found his mother and began the first trek to her final resting place, a cemetery near their home where Reid could visit often.
Philip and Gretchen Parks, Reid’s maternal grandparents, huddled with Will near the rim of the hole several forensic techs were digging. Will brought them so much comfort. Her gaze went to Reid. Like father, like son.
He’d come through his ordeal, and there’d been no more nightmares for a couple of months now.
The techs with their gloves dug slowly and carefully, stopping to bag every item they found. This had to be done right so they had all the proof that would add to the charges against Gabriel. It wouldn’t bring Denise back, but it would bring justice.
Finally.
Reid’s fingers tightened on hers as the first gleam of bone showed through the black loam. There she was. He gasped and closed his eyes.
“We can wait in the cabin,” she said softly. “There’s no shame in that.”
“I want to be here. I want to know.” His voice was low, and his grip on her hand tightened.
He released her hand and put his arm around her to pull her more tightly into an embrace. He brought her left hand to his lips and kissed the wedding ring set on her finger. Sometimes she still couldn’t believe she was married to this wonderful man and had such a perfect life.
He trembled a little as they began to put his mother’s remains in the coffin, and she hugged him when she saw the glimmer of moisture in his eyes. This moment had been a long time coming.
It seemed like eternity as they stood there in the October wind and chill before the techs stepped out of the hole.
Her father was to her right, and he stepped closer to her as the men closed the casket. “They’re ready to take her back to Pelican Harbor. I’m sorry, Reid.”
Reid smiled. “It’s a good day, Charles. Mom’s not in that assortment of bones anyway. She’s laughing in heaven. There’s a lot of closure today. I didn’t think this day would ever come.”
“I know.” Her dad glanced down at Jane. “You did great, Jane. I’m really proud of all you’ve done as the new chief. You’re a remarkable officer.”
Had she heard him correctly? She stared at him to make sure he wasn’t mocking her. There was seldom a hint of praise in the things he said to her growing up. Grades were never up to snuff. Learning to be a crack shot had been challenging. Even her cooking was critiqued.
He cleared his throat. “I know I haven’t been the easiest parent. I’m not good at it. Things I know I should say get stuck in my throat. But you’re a good daughter, Jane. And a good person. I wish I could take the credit for how you turned out, but I think that was more you than me.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” she said. “You taught me hard work and focus.”
The wind lifted his bushy white hair and blew it into his eyes. He batted it away, and his gaze stayed intent as though there was more he wanted to say but didn’t know how.
“I love you, Dad.”
“I-I love you, Jane.” His voice went gruff and hoarse.
That cost him, and his sacrifice to say something difficult brought moisture to her eyes. Of course, everything made her cry right now. She wanted to hug him, but it was such an unnatural gesture she couldn’t make her arms move. Their locked gazes would have to be enough.
He put his hand on her shoulder and gave a light squeeze. “See you back home.”
Reid tucked her into the warmth of his embrace again, out of the wind. “I knew he had it in him.”
“I didn’t.” She nodded toward the cabin. “Did you ever see it?”
“Not the inside.” He motioned to Will, who was standing alone as his grandparents walked alongside the casket as though they couldn’t bear to be away from their daughter.
Will bounded over to meet them. “What’s up, parental figures?”
“We were going to go check out the little cabin. Want to come?”
“Sure.” He fell into step beside Jane.
Her heart was trying to jump right out of her throat. She’d hoped to have Will there when she made her announcement, and her dream came true.
Reid fiddled with the door and managed to get it open. Jane stepped inside out of the wind. The musty, closed-up smell made her wonder if anyone had been in here during the last fifteen years. Thick dust and debris flew up from under her feet as she moved, and she caught the scent of animal droppings.
She wrinkled her nose. Maybe this wasn’t the best place to talk. “It’s not as nice as I remember. Back then it felt cozy. Like a little hideaway.”
“It might have been fifteen years ago.” Reid wandered over to look in the fireplace. “Some half-burned paperbacks here. I remember your dad talking about burning your mom’s books.”
“Grandpa burned books?”
“He didn’t want my mother getting any ideas above the place where he wanted her.”
Will’s eyes clouded. “That’s messed up. I’d never do that to Megan.”
The two were an established couple now, and Olivia had improved so much. She barely needed a walker now, and Jane rejoiced when she moved home last week. Not that Jane hadn’t wanted her in the house, but she’d been so happy to see her friend’s recovery.
Well, this place would have to do. Was there ever a perfect place and time for life-altering news? While this might not be the place she wanted to remember as the spot, it was also a time of renewal. For her, for Will, and especially for Reid.