Chapter Twenty-Seven
Bree had always liked her apartment in Kansas City before. But now that she was back here, she realized how lifeless it really was.
There were no gorgeous Colorado Rockies out her window. No horses, no pregnant dogs.
There were definitely no infant twins needing constant attention and care.
Melissa and Chris had gone to California to be near his family. A family who—just like Melissa—were thrilled to discover he was alive. Melissa had invited Bree to come with them, but she’d said no.
They had a lot of lost time to make up for. A lot of memories they needed to create, just the four of them, as the sweetest nuclear family.
Bree understood that, even if it did feel a little like someone was using her heart as a pincushion. One tiny little pain after another. None of them enough to really wound her, but taken all together...agonizing.
She was free now. The Organization as it had existed was no more.
After all the information came out and everyone started turning on everyone else, no one had any doubt that Jeter and all his cronies would be spending the rest of their lives in prison, although at least Ronnie Kitchens had survived.
The future of Communication for All, the actual charity, was uncertain. But maybe under the right leadership it could become great again.
Bree, or Bethany Malone, if she wanted to call herself that, was free.
No one was chasing her. Hell, she could even open a social media account if she wanted to. Make friends. Talk to other people without having to worry about being hunted.
She didn’t know how to do any of those things.
So she was eating cereal at her kitchen table alone. Just like she’d started. Her spoon was halfway up to her mouth when a knock came at her door.
She didn’t run for a bug-out bag this time, although she still was a little uneasy. Nobody here in the city even talked to each other. Why would someone be knocking on her door?
She looked through the peephole then fell back against the door with a thud.
Tanner.
She opened the door. “Hi.”
Oh, dear. He was wearing his cowboy hat. She took in the dark hair and stark jaw that needed a shave even though it was only lunchtime. Those broad shoulders and trim waist. It had only been three weeks since she’d seen him, but she couldn’t stop staring.
Finally, she met his eyes. Those soft brown eyes. “Hey there,” he whispered.
“Hi.” She couldn’t stop her smile. She stepped back so he could come in. “What are you doing here?”
He held up a small cooler. “I brought us both a slice of Mrs. A’s lemon pie.”
She felt her eyes grow big. “Really?”
“Yep.”
She led him into the kitchen, tossing the cereal bowl in the sink and pulling out two plates. This time it was Bree who gobbled the pie down, rather than Tanner. She was already almost finished when she realized he’d barely eaten half.
“What’s wrong?”
“I want to eat it slowly. This might be the last time I get any of Mrs. Andrews’s pie.”
“Why? Are you leaving Risk Peak?” She couldn’t imagine Tanner living anywhere else.
He nodded solemnly. “Maybe. It depends.”
“On what?”
He took another small bite of his pie. “On you.”
“Me?”
“Mr. and Mrs. A said I can’t ever have another slice of their pie unless I talk you into coming back to Risk Peak.”
She smiled and swatted at him. “No, they didn’t.”
He grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips.
“Oh, they did. They miss the twins, but they miss you, too. They sent me here with that pie and told me to make sure you understood how much they—how much all the people of Risk Peak—want you to return. They said you could have your job back, but...” He trailed off.
She stiffened. “But what?”
He shrugged. “You’re a genius. I told them it’s beneath you to work at a job like that when you could get any job you wanted to with computers. And...” He faded off again.
She raised an eyebrow. “Have we switched bodies or something? Since when do you have trouble getting words out instead of me?”
He gave her a half grin. “I know Risk Peak isn’t for everyone.
It’s small. You live in a big city. But I want to get to know you.
Know you now when you’re not an overwhelmed single mom on the run.
I want to get to know the real Bree, or Bethany, or Susan.
I don’t care what you call yourself as long as I can be near you. ”
Her eyes got big. “Oh.”
“If that has to be in Denver or even here, I’m willing to do that. I can put in for a job on the force here.” He looked around her place, trying not to grimace. “I can make it work.”
What he meant was he would make it work.
For her.
To be near where she was.
When she didn’t want to be here at all. She wanted to be in Risk Peak.
“But there’s no pie here. Or mountains. Or horses.”
She could tell that she had every single bit of his attention. “No, those things aren’t here. But there are computer jobs here. And you deserve the chance to live the way you want to, Bree.”
“Please call me Susan.”
He laughed. That sexy, confident chuckle that did things to her insides she couldn’t even begin to explain. But then he grabbed both her hands.
“You’re a beautiful, intelligent woman who hasn’t been given the opportunity to explore the details about herself because she’s had to live in hiding.”
“I want that, too. But I think I would like to try it in Risk Peak. I have no interest in working with computers right now. I might never want to again.”
He shrugged. “And if so, that’s okay. And I won’t lie. The thought of having you in Risk Peak...everything about that feels right to me.”
“You’ll say whatever you have to in order to get your lemon pie privileges reinstated.”
Before she could let out a squeal, she was picked up by the waist and deposited on his lap. “I’ll say whatever I have to to get my you privileges reinstated.”
She relaxed into him. She wanted that, too. “I’m new at this. I’ll have to figure things out at my own pace.”
“As slow as you need. For as long as you need.” His lips brushed against hers with the promise of everything that could be between them.
Lips that held the promise of home.