Chapter 24 Always
Chapter twenty-four
Always
The conference room was bland, not quite cold but not quite warm, either.
Instead of rolling desk chairs or throw-away plastic seating, the table was surrounded with office-standard guest type chairs.
Sturdy arms in a material Jenna couldn’t label, thin cushions for the seat and low back, and immobile curved ‘legs’ that were a pain to drag in and out.
They functioned, but no one would really want to linger in them.
And that was Jenna’s impression of the entire room.
Or perhaps it was her mood.
She felt better after a night of hard, somewhat fitful sleep and two long soaks in the hot shower, but too many parts of her body still ached.
Her wrists still needed to be covered. Jon had insisted on wrapping her ankle in an ace wrap for support for a couple of days, and that meant it didn’t fit in her normal shoes. She was a mess.
Across the table from them, Lilia Rodriguez folded her sleek notebook-folder closed with an almost clichéd snap. “Well, that was a lot,” the woman said as she lowered her pen. She rested her hands over the notebook, making no move to actually stand, and rotated her gaze over the people in the room.
Lilia was in her mid-thirties by Jenna’s estimation, with perfectly straight, black hair that hung about halfway between her chin and shoulders.
She had golden-brown eyes that shone with confidence and strength, and seemed to see more than what they should.
She looked every bit the professional woman, down to her carefully manicured, unblemished nails and flawless makeup.
Neutral seemed to be her natural expression, but when she smiled, her eyes lit up and it warmed her entire face.
Though Jenna suspected they only saw that version because she allowed it.
“Yeah,” Alex said, one seat removed from Jon, “that’s one way to put it.”
Jon stretched an arm behind Jenna’s chair, his fingers grazing her arm in a light touch. “I hear Sheriff Parker caused a scene while we were busy with our own. That’s also being included in this, I assume?”
Lilia nodded. “Absolutely. Parker Senior made a documented, witnessed attempt on not only the life of an admitted patient, but also a registered nurse. That alone is grounds to strip him of his badge and begin legal proceedings. But we want to wait to file charges until we know exactly what charges he deserves.”
“That’s just crazy,” Alex muttered.
“Apple didn’t fall far from the tree on that one,” Jon replied.
Lilia tapped one nail on her book. “There is one thing I’d like to clear up. If possible, this is something I would like to keep off the record.”
Jenna stiffened. “What more could you need to know?” She swore her body hurt more after having verbally relived the day than it had when they’d arrived.
Lilia met her gaze for a moment and her eyes softened as if in sympathy. Then she looked back to Jon and Alex. “Parker Senior and Parker Junior both said some things about men with impossible abilities. The two of you were both named, as well as Mr. Blackburn.”
Jenna curled her fingers into the hem of her shirt. Shit. There was nothing wrong with them being what they were. But people were assholes and the idea of acceptance was mostly a controversial notion in the current social climate.
“And what did Lance say when you asked him about this?” Jon asked calmly.
Lilia didn’t blink. “He laughed.”
Alex leaned forward, arms on the table. “You’re asking us if we’re superhuman?”
“You haven’t denied it yet.”
Jon ran his fingertips up and down Jenna’s arm in a light caress. “You may not be aware, Ms. Rodriguez, but the specific reason for mine and Lance’s discharge is highly classified information.”
Jenna fought the impulse to turn her head and gape at him. She had no idea what kind of answer that was.
Lilia raised a neatly trimmed brow. “I don’t recall asking for that information.”
“Then if we’re done here,” Jon said, “I’d like to take my girlfriend home.” He stood and pulled Jenna’s chair out so she could do the same.
Jenna saw Lilia’s brow furrow before she turned her attention to taking Jon’s hand and keeping too much weight off her sensitive ankle. “I’m not that fragile,” she grumbled.
He looped his arm around her waist. “Maybe I just want to spoil you.”
Well. What the hell was she supposed to say to that?
“Hey, Johnson,” Alex called as Jon reached for the door to the conference room.
Jon paused and glanced back without bothering to turn them around.
“I know we found the girl you knew about, but that cartel’s still out there. From everything I’ve heard, Pretty Bird doesn’t sound like he loses quietly,” Alex said.
“I really hope you’re not plotting reckless vigilante antics in front of me,” Lilia said.
Jenna bit back a smile and leaned into Jon’s shoulder. Of course they are.
Jon’s response was to Alex. “I whole-heartedly agree. We’ll be in touch.”
“Gentlemen,” Lilia said on a sigh.
Jon reached again for the door, this time pulling it open as Alex said, “I actually do have an answer for your question, off the record.”
Jon eased the door closed at their backs and dipped down to press a kiss to Jenna’s temple. “I know your friend works here, baby, but I’m feeling a little sick of hospitals. Let’s get some air.”
She laughed quietly. “I was only in the hospital for a few hours. It wasn’t that bad.”
“Hours, Jen.” His arm tightened somehow as they walked. “If I’d at least still been active duty, I could have had you taken to a military hospital and demanded they—”
“Oh my God,” she exclaimed with another, louder laugh.
“It’s not like I had surgery! They shut you out so they could ask me to verify that you weren’t abusing me.
Because I look like a battered woman. It was humiliating.
And it was, like, ten minutes.” She actually loved that he’d hated it so much he was still bothered by it a whole day later.
Jon grumbled something she couldn’t quite hear but let it drop.
They were all the way to his truck before she asked, “Shouldn’t we meet up with the guys?”
His friends were staying in a local hotel, and had also been called to speak with Lilia. She was pretty sure one of them had caved and rented a car, given the adjustment to the plans. Not to mention she actually had no idea where Lance was, though she was fairly sure he’d been discharged.
Jon helped her into the truck before answering. “Nah. There’s something else I want to do before I get stuck spending my time in dugouts with their asses.”
Jenna raised a brow, but all he did was flash her a grin and jog around to his side.
She knew he wasn’t satisfied leaving things be.
They hadn’t excised the threat of the Veracruz Cartel.
If anything, they’d made an enemy of it.
That wasn’t the sort of thing Jon was capable of tolerating. Jenna knew that.
She was a little scared thinking about what it meant, though. Because it meant Jon still intended to go hunting.
“You’re going after them, aren’t you?” she asked softly while he drove.
“Yeah, I will be.” Jon reached over and held out his hand. “They’re hurting people, Jen. Even if they don’t try coming for me or you anymore, they’ll keep hurting innocent women until they’re stopped.”
She laid her hand in his and let him thread their fingers together.
“Truth is, they’re not the only ones. They’re just the big ones right now. That’s why I want to establish a rescue business here, where it can do some good.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “That, and once it’s up, I’ll be better able to provide for you.”
Her lips lifted in a silent laugh. “I provide for myself just fine.” When my bakery is running.
“Maybe I’m hoping someday you’ll be at a level where you can work better hours,” Jon said. “Or maybe I’m thinking two incomes is better than one.”
Jenna blinked, the blur of colors and shapes she wasn’t paying attention to beyond the glass suddenly coming into focus.
He’d driven them to a small lake outside of the city.
It was a little out of the way for the direction they needed to take to get home, and she definitely didn’t have a suit with her. “Jon…”
He squeezed her hand again before releasing it to cut the engine. “Save the worries for tomorrow, Jen. Today, I have something for you.” He slipped from the truck before she could respond, leaving her dumbfounded.
What in the heck was he doing?
He pulled open her door, and as soon as she released her seatbelt, he lifted her from the truck.
She was set on her feet, but he kept both hands on her hips and leaned close, running his nose along her jawline.
“You do not look like a battered woman,” he murmured against her skin.
“You look like a survivor. Like a woman who went through something hard, and didn’t let it break her.
” He pressed a featherlight kiss to her larger bruise before easing back to meet her watering gaze.
“I hate that he put his hands on you—that anyone put their hands on you—but I’m so fucking glad you stayed strong, Jen. I’m so proud of you.”
She fought the tears. She’d cried enough the previous day.
It was done, it was behind her, and all-in-all the assault and kidnapping weren’t the worst she’d endured.
Though the gunfight had been scary. Jenna twisted her fingers in Jon’s shirt.
“I knew you would come,” she whispered. “It was easy to be strong this time, because I knew you would come. Even before I knew he’d baited you. ”
Jon dipped his chin in a short nod and kissed her forehead. “Always,” he said against her skin. “I’ll always come.”
They stood like that for a moment before he pulled back and finally moved her away from the truck. With his arm again around her waist, under the guise of helping take her weight off her ankle, Jon led them toward the shore.
Jenna couldn’t help but smile. It really wasn’t even lake season. “Jon, honestly, what are we doing here? Did you feel like a swim?”
His torso vibrated in time with his low, rumbling chuckle. “Nope. The lake’s just for scenery.”
She eyed the water as it glistened under the afternoon sun, the waves rolling almost lazily back and forth against the mud and rock-strewn beach.
They lived in dense forest, which made a lake—with forest and mountain views as a backdrop—a rare kind of view.
For that, and because she did like lakes, it was nice to look at.
“Someone else lives in your old house, it turns out,” Jon said as he brought them to a stop a few yards shy of the water, where it was still mostly grass.
Jenna blinked at the sudden and very strange declaration.
“So, I can’t take you back to where I first asked you out.”
A laugh choked her. “To be fair,” she managed, “walking me into my childhood bedroom might have been kind of weird, anyway.”
His lips twitched. “Maybe.”
“And why in the world would you want to walk through that memory?” It wasn’t the worst by any means. But they had better.
Jon turned so he was facing her fully, hands on her hips to make sure she was balanced. “For the poetry, I guess,” he said. He eased his hands away, caught hers, and ran his thumbs over her knuckles before dropping just one and lowering to a knee.
Jenna felt the breath rush from her lungs.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, as many times as you need to hear it,” Jon said, holding her stare fearlessly, “I made the mistake of letting you go once. I won’t do it again.
You’re the reason I came back to Misty Glades.
You are—you’ve always been—the love of my life, Jenna Hodge.
No matter what I do next, I want to do it with you at my side.
I want you as my wife. I want to build a family with you.
I want to grow old with your hand in mine, and still be embarrassing our kids when they’re our age. ”
Laughter started to bubble out of her, wet and sudden, but it caught in her throat when Jon’s free hand reappeared in her line of sight with a suspicious box in his palm.
He thumbed it open to reveal a beautiful blue diamond on a white-gold band.
“Will you do me the greatest honor of my life, and accept this overbearing Marine as your husband?”
The laugh finally popped from her, short and breathless, and Jenna curled her fingers around the hand still holding hers in place. “Yes,” she gasped. “Absolutely, yes!”