Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Tessa woke to sunlight and silence.
For a moment, she didn't move. Just lay there, feeling the warmth on her face, listening to Brian's steady breathing beside her.
Her throat ached. Her body felt like she'd been hit by a truck.
But she was alive, and Carla Reeves was in jail, and for the first time in months, she didn't have to be afraid.
She turned her head carefully. Brian was still asleep, his bandaged arm resting on top of the covers.
He looked younger in sleep, the tension gone from his face.
She watched him breathe for a while, cataloging the details.
The stubble on his jaw. The scar on his collarbone she'd never asked about.
The way his hair fell across his forehead.
This man had thrown himself at a woman with a knife. Had run three blocks in the dark because he heard glass break. Had held her all night like he was afraid she'd disappear if he let go.
She reached out and touched his face. His eyes opened immediately.
"Hey," he said, voice rough with sleep.
"Hey."
"How's your throat?"
"Sore. How's your arm?"
"Sore." He smiled, small and tired. "We're a pair."
"We are."
She shifted closer, pressing herself against his side. He wrapped his good arm around her.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"No idea. Don't care."
"We should probably get up. Deal with the door. Talk to Diaz."
"Probably." He didn't move. "Five more minutes."
"Five more minutes," she agreed.
They lay there in the quiet, the morning sun slowly filling the room. Tessa could hear birds outside, the distant sound of a car passing. Normal sounds. Safe sounds.
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand. She ignored it. It buzzed again.
"That's probably Diaz," Brian said.
"Probably."
She reached for it anyway. Three texts from Diaz, two from Bree, one from an unknown number that turned out to be Dr. Hendricks.
Diaz: Call me when you're up. Need to go over a few things.
Bree: Coffee and breakfast at our place whenever you're ready. No rush. Love you both.
Dr. Hendricks: Heard what happened. Take all the time you need. The job will be here when you're ready.
Tessa stared at the last message. She hadn't even officially accepted the position yet, and already the town was treating her as if she belonged.
"Good news?" Brian asked.
"Hendricks. Telling me to take my time." She set the phone down. "I haven't even said yes yet."
"You going to?"
"Yeah." She said it without hesitation. "I am."
They got up slowly, moving like old people, everything stiff and sore. The bathroom mirror showed Tessa what she'd expected: dark bruises ringing her throat like a necklace. She touched them gently, remembering Carla's hands, the pressure, the way her vision had started to go gray at the edges.
Then Brian had been there, and Carla was gone, and she could breathe again.
She covered the bruises with a scarf and went to face the day.
The living room looked better than she'd expected. Someone had cleaned up the blood, righted the furniture, and swept up the glass. A sheet of plywood covered where the sliding door had been.
"Hank and Colby," Brian said, reading her expression. "They stayed until three in the morning getting everything sorted."
"I didn't even hear them."
"You were out cold. So was I, mostly." He moved to the kitchen and started the coffee maker. "New door's coming tomorrow. Hank knows a guy."
"Hank knows a guy for everything."
"Small town. Everyone knows a guy."
Tessa sat at the kitchen table, watching him move around the space. He favored his injured arm but didn't complain. Poured coffee into two mugs, set one in front of her, and sat down across the table.
"So," he said. "What now?"
"Now we drink coffee. Then we call Diaz. Then we go to Hank and Bree's for breakfast." She wrapped her hands around the mug. "Then we figure out what the rest of our lives look like."
"That simple?"
"That simple."
He smiled. It was the real one, the one that reached his eyes, the one she'd been seeing more and more since she'd arrived in Copper Moon.
She called Diaz while Brian showered. The sergeant sounded tired but satisfied.
"Reeves is in county lockup. Arraignment's tomorrow. She's looking at assault, breaking and entering, stalking, and about a dozen other charges. With Webb's federal case ongoing, the DA's talking about coordinating prosecution."
"What does that mean for me?"
"You'll need to testify eventually. Both trials, probably. But that's months away. For now, you're safe. They're both locked up, and they're staying that way."
Safe. The word felt foreign. She'd spent so long being afraid that she wasn't sure what safe felt like anymore.
"Thank you," she said. "For everything. The trap, the backup, all of it."
"That's the job." Diaz paused. "But for what it's worth, I'm glad you're okay. Copper Moon needs more people like you."
Tessa hung up and sat with that for a moment. Copper Moon needs more people like you. Three months ago, she would have laughed at the idea. She'd been burned out, broken, running from a life that had nearly destroyed her.
Now she was staying. Building something new. Becoming someone new, or maybe just becoming who she'd always been before the job had ground her down.
Brian emerged from the bathroom, hair wet, fresh bandage on his arm. "Diaz?"
"Carla's in county. Arraignment tomorrow. We're safe."
He nodded slowly, like he was letting it sink in. "So it's really over."
"It's really over."
They walked to Hank and Bree's, taking the long way along the water. The morning was cool and bright, the bay sparkling under a cloudless sky. A few early joggers passed them, waving. An old man walking his dog nodded hello.
Normal life. She'd almost forgotten what it looked like.
Bree met them at the door with hugs that lasted too long and eyes that were suspiciously bright. Hank was in the kitchen, flipping pancakes. Colby and Sabrina were already at the table, coffee cups in hand.
"There they are," Colby said. "The walking wounded."
"Barely walking," Brian said. "Everything hurts."
"That's what happens when you tackle a woman with a knife." Colby grinned. "Very heroic. Very stupid."
"You helped."
"I helped after you did the stupid part."
Sabrina swatted his arm. "Leave them alone. They've been through enough."
Breakfast was loud and chaotic, and exactly what Tessa needed. Pancakes and bacon and eggs and more coffee than was probably healthy. Stories about the night before, told and retold, each version a little different. Laughter that came easier than expected.
Halfway through, Bree leaned over to Tessa. "How are you really doing?"
Tessa considered the question. "I don't know yet. It hasn't fully hit me." She touched the scarf at her throat. "But I think I'm going to be okay. Eventually."
"You will be. You've got us." Bree squeezed her hand. "All of us."
After breakfast, they sat on the back deck, watching the water. Hank and Colby were discussing something about the shop. Sabrina was showing Bree pictures on her phone. Brian sat beside Tessa, his hand covering hers on the armrest.
"I need to call Chicago," Tessa said. "Tell them I'm not coming back."
"You sure?"
"I've been sure for weeks. I just wasn't ready to actually make the call." She turned to look at him. "This is home now. You're home."
"The cottage is pretty small. Might need to expand that addition."
"Are you asking me to move in?"
"You already live there."
"Technically, I'm a guest."
"Then I'm asking you to stop being a guest." He lifted her hand, pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "Stay. For real. Forever, if you want."
"Forever's a long time."
"I know." His eyes held hers. "I'm counting on it."
She didn't answer right away. Not because she was uncertain, but because she wanted to remember this moment. The sun on the water. The sound of their friends laughing. Brian's hand in hers, solid and warm.
"Yes," she said. "Forever sounds perfect."
He kissed her, soft and slow, right there on the deck with everyone watching. Colby wolf-whistled. Bree made a sound that was suspiciously close to a sob. Hank just smiled and shook his head.
Tessa pulled back, laughing. "We have an audience."
"Let them watch." Brian's smile was bright enough to light the whole bay. "I don't care who knows."
Later, walking home along the water, Tessa thought about everything that had brought her here. The burnout. The stalker. The double-booked rental that had thrown her into Brian's life. Every terrible thing that had happened had led her to this moment, this place, this man.
She didn't believe in fate. But she believed in this. In them. In the life they were building together.
The cottage came into view, plywood door and all. It looked a little battered. A little broken. But it was home.
"What are you thinking?" Brian asked.
"That I'm happy." She slipped her hand into his. "Really, genuinely happy. I'm not sure I remember the last time I felt like this."
"Get used to it." He pulled her close. "I plan on making you feel like this for a very long time."
She leaned into him as they walked up the path to their battered, beautiful home.
For the first time in longer than she could remember, Tessa Callahan wasn't running from anything.
She was exactly where she wanted to be.