He tightened his arm around Aric and touched Kit’s cheek. “Guess I’m staying put.”
A few minutes later, Kit was sitting beside Hawk at the picnic table. Because her legs had gone wobbly.
Although Regan had dragged Aric away to help her put out the silverware, he checked Hawk’s location every couple of minutes.
She knew exactly how her son felt. Her insides were still shaking.
Hawk would have walked away, from his home, his family, Aric—and her.
The man was so very tough—and had so much pain inside him. She leaned against his side. “We’re a hot mess. All three of us.”
Putting an arm around her, he kissed the top of her head in silent agreement.
She curled her fingers around his hand. “We’ll figure things out. Maybe we’ll have a rough patch here and there, but none of us is a quitter.”
He didn’t speak for a long moment. “Thought it’d be safer if I left. I’m sorry.”
Even if it would hurt him, he’d do anything to keep them safe. Dear heavens, she’d seen his face when he told them he’d shouted at Aric. So devastated.
“You should be sorry.” She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. “Don’t even think about leaving, or I’ll sic Aric and Regan on you.”
Because he was a total pushover when it came to the children.
“You got a mean side, woman.” He brushed her hair out of her face with one hand and lifted her chin with the other.
Who knew gray-blue eyes could be so warm?
“I love you, too, you know.” The words in his deep rasping voice filled her heart.
And then he kissed her.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The purpose of life is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“My God, Hawk has a really effective shout.” Erica leaned on the receptionist desk in the municipal building. “He silenced them. We should hire him.”
“Were the children upset?” Kit asked. There was no summer school today, and the young woman had come in to talk about Aric’s fight yesterday. And about Hawk.
Erica snorted. “Aric was the only one who was really scared—and, honestly, a lot of things set him off. After he calmed down, your boy wrapped himself around Hawk like a monkey.”
Kit smiled. Of course he had. Aric trusted Hawk right down to the ground. Like Kit did. “Aric is supposed to apologize to Rachel. If he forgets, can you remind him?”
“Sure. She gets to apologize for shoving.” Erica rolled her eyes. “After Aric and Hawk left, I had a talk with the children about better ways to disagree and about saying you’re sorry.”
“You’re an amazing caregiver. I’m glad Aric has you this summer.”
“Oh, god, that’s so cool to hear.” Erica beamed. “I’ve decided that childcare is going to be my career. Who knew I’d want to follow in Mom’s footsteps?”
Kit laughed. “I was hoping Aric would follow in mine, but I think Hawk enticed him into wanting to fly.”
“Of course he did.” Erica rolled her eyes. “Those Hermitage guys make anything look sexy.”
Now there was a truth. “Oh, I wanted to tell you, we’re having an all-female celebration on Saturday at the roadhouse. I hope you and your mom can come. Audrey’s pregnant. ”
“I heard! It’s so awesome, and one more way to make sure our Chief and librarian stay here where they belong. I turned twenty-one last month, so yay, I can get into the bar.” With a wave, Erica headed out, sidestepping two people coming in.
Time to work. Mentally donning her medical receptionist hat, Kit got the elderly woman and her husband squared away to see Caz in the health clinic.
Next up was a person reporting a fender-bender.
JJ came out to retrieve that one.
This job sure wasn’t anything she’d ever imagined doing but was exactly what she needed for the summer. Between the police station, the medical clinic, the library, and the records office, the building was the heart of the town.
And she’d started to feel like she belonged in Rescue.
An hour later, Gabe strode across the lobby to her desk. His rough-hewn face held an unreadable expression rather than a smile. “Kit.”
“Is something wrong?” She jumped to her feet, panic rising. “Aric?”
“No. Nothing like that. I have news about Parrish.”
Fear tightened her stomach. “And.”
“He’s dead, Kit. He was shanked—knifed, essentially—during a prison fight.”
Reverend Parrish, the Prophet, was dead. She shook her head in disbelief. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” A fleeting smile crossed his face. “I knew you’d worry, so I called the prison staff. There’s no doubt.”
“Oh.” Worries she hadn’t even imagined fell away. Was this what trees felt like when shedding their leaves? “It’s horrible to feel so relieved someone is dead.”
Gabe’s expression went hard. “It’s sad to be such a bastard that your passing causes more relief than regret. And, in this case, one of the women in the Texas compound had a brother who wanted to see Parrish pay.”
“Chief.” JJ stood in the doorway of the police station. “We have a pile-up out on Sterling, and the drivers are fighting. The troopers asked for help if we’re available.”
Gabe hesitated, gaze on Kit.
“I’m fine.” She made a scooting motion with her fingers. “Off with you.”
He tapped the top of her desk. “You’re a good match for Hawk. I’m glad he found you.”
Thank heavens he left, since it took a full minute before she picked her jaw up off the floor.
But then another two people came in needing directions to the library and records office.
During the hours at the desk, Kit processed her feelings about Parrish’s death.
The Prophet had been a huge figure in the PZ compound, and her husband had blindly followed him.
Without Parrish, the Patriot Zealots had no leader. Captain Nabera had been second in command, but it was the Prophet who’d held them together.
Now, their fanatic cult would truly fall apart. And Nabera’s world would be shattered. The thought was so very satisfying.
Kit took a breath and a deeper one, then smiled. The pissers would scurry into the woodwork like the cockroaches they were, and they wouldn’t come back out.
She could stop looking over her shoulder in fear they’d come for her.
I am free.
And she was in love.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Fortune and love favor the brave. ~ Ovid
On Friday, the Hermitage courtyard was a busy place. Kit watched the children scurrying back and forth across the courtyard.
Regan’s friends, Niko and Delany, were here to spend the night, and the kids were working to fill the woodshed.
Bull and Hawk had spent the day in the forest, cutting down dead trees. Now the four brothers and JJ were chain sawing the log sections, then splitting them into woodstove-sized pieces with a log-splitter and, so stereotypically wonderful—an axe.