“You don’t have to be done with me ever. But I would like a hamburger. Or some bacon and eggs.” I salivated like an animal. “Or viscuits and gravy.” I moaned.
He hovered over me, smiling. “So Bettie’s?”
“Admit it sounds good.”
“Steak and eggs wouldn’t kill me. But I still don’t want to leave.”
“We have to eventually.”
“Do we?”
“I mean …” He was kissing my neck again, and I was laughing, and the birds were singing outside, and everything was right in the world. When his face reappeared in my vision again, I asked, “You really don’t want to leave?”
His amusement softened to adoration, laced with longing. “If we leave here,” he said, stroking my face, “then life can get to us. In here, we’re safe.”
“In that case, I have good news.”
He waited, one of his brows arched.
“Now that we have each other, we’re going to go get life. And as long as we’re together, we’ll be safe. I’m pretty sure I can do just about anything, as long as I have you.”
His dark eyes searched mine. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
A shift was all it took to connect our lips, and the kiss we shared was deep and long, filled with promises and hopes we’d once believed were lost. But they weren’t lost at all. We’d found them in each other.
It was nothing short of miraculous.
A knock sounded at the door, followed by Jo’s voice.
“Put some clothes on, lovebirds. You need to see this!”
Keaton and I blinked at each other, and while we were staring, Cole shouted, “Don’t you assholes ever check your phones? Ow!”
“My sister is not an asshole,” Jo said. She knocked again. “We know you’re in there! Put on some pants.” Again with the knocking.
Smiling, we climbed out of bed.
“Yeah, yeah—we’re coming,” Keaton called in the direction of the door while he dug through his bag.
“Yeah, I bet you’re coming—ow! Goddammit Jo, if you hit me one more time—”
“You’ll what?” Grant asked.
I laughed, pulling on a sundress and twisting my hair into a bun. “You’d better open that before Cole gets himself hurt.”
Keaton had stepped into some jeans and thrown on a shirt, raking his hand through his hair as he pulled open the door.
All of our siblings and Grant stood just outside looking pleased with themselves. Well, except for Grand and Cole, who were eyeing each other.
Carson stretched on his toes to see over everyone, then made a face. “I’m not goin’ into their sex den.” Louder, he said. “Y’all are gonna have to come out here.”
“What’s this all about?” I asked tucking into Keaton’s side in the threshold.
Poppy was so excited, she looked like she was about to split out of her skin and shed it like a cocoon. “Oh, you know. Just this.”
She shoved a newspaper at me, and I turned it around in my hands, confused as I looked for the front and floored when I saw the headline.
MAYOR ACCUSED OF EMBEZZLEMENT, MISCONDUCT, FRAUD.
Under which was a photo of Mitchell being escorted from his home.
“What?” I breathed.
And they all began to talk at once.
What we gleaned from their story, told in non-linear bits and pieces, was that sometime yesterday, Marnie had shown up at the police station with a thumb drive and asked for Jensen, one of the police not in her father’s pocket. On that thumb drive was damning evidence, not only that Mitchell had hired Jimmy to wreck Keaton’s equipment—when she’d really started digging, she’d found emails between Mitchell, his accountant, and his lawyer about the money they’d been skimming from the city for a decade in a gross misallocation of city funds.
So she’d filed a report, submitting the drive as evidence. Judging by the newspaper in my hands, she’d sent that information to the reporters too.
The town was in upheaval. Main Street was full of people milling around, gossipping, arguing. Tensions were high, and apparently a few fights had broken out. Doug Windley had gotten punched by the sporting goods store owner. I didn’t wish many people ill, but boy, I hoped somebody got that on camera.
“They’re holding a town meeting in a few hours to discuss removing him from office,” Poppy said, grinning and breathless. “Can you believe it?”
I closed my mouth. Opened it again. “No. I cannot. Why would Marnie turn her own father in?”
“According to the article,” Poppy started, “she said she’d always thought he had the town’s best interest in mind and that their family’s legacy was more important than anything. When she found out what he’d done, she knew her great-greats who had been mayors before him would have done the right thing. And the right thing was to tell the people of the town he was meant to protect that he’d been stealing from them.”
For a moment, we were all silent.
“She just blew up her whole life, her family, and our town in one move,” Keaton said solemnly. “She told me she’d watch my back, but this?” He shook his head, guilt wafting off of him. “The sacrifice … it’s too much.”
“She’s outed him before. Threw a wrench right into his Goody’s deal and didn’t feel bad about it at all,” Jo noted. “Say what you will about Marnie, but she knows right from wrong. And nobody can deny she’ll fight when compelled to.”
“Maybe she wants to run for mayor,” Poppy guessed.
We all fell quiet again.
“Guess we’ll find out soon enough,” Cole said. “I heard she went home to Austin. Can you imagine what it’s like inside Mitchell’s house right now?” He shuddered.
“But the good news is,” Grant said, “there’s no one left to stand in your way. You’re free, Keaton.”
I felt his knees tremble, the weight of him sagging onto me just a little, just enough to betray his ever-stoic exterior.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice rough. “For letting us know, for coming here. Kinda wish you’d brought food though.”
Through the laughter, Carson tossed a plastic bag at Keaton, who hooked it with his arm midair.
“Protein bars,” Carson explained. “Figured you could use them.”
“Too bad Uber Stan doesn’t deliver food,” Poppy noted, then lit up. “Hey, I bet he’d be all over a new business venture.”
“Y’all come up to the house whenever you’re settled,” Jo said. “Mama’s got enough food to feed an army.”
They’d begun to disperse, Cade saying over his shoulder, “And next time, charge your phone so we don’t have to know what your sex hair looks like.”
Faster than I could register, Keaton let me go, reached in the bag, and threw a protein bar at Cade’s face, hitting him in the temple with a smack. Cade jerked back in surprise, but scowled, bending to pick the bar off the ground and soft pitch it back to Keaton, saying, “You can have that one, but don’t try it aga—” The bar hit him in the forehead, and when he’d recovered from the surprise, he stomped toward us, muttering a string of threats. But two steps in, Keaton stepped us back inside and slammed the door in his face.