Chapter 22 #3
A moving truck. The words “Dark Canyon Rentals” emblazoned on its side, rear doors open to reveal furniture he recognized from Sabrina’s place. Boxes labeled in her precise handwriting. A life packed up and delivered to his doorstep.
“Everything I own,” Sabrina said, suddenly beside him. She was always in motion, his Sabrina, never still for long. “Everything that matters.”
He couldn’t tear his gaze from the truck and what it represented, the tangible, physical proof of what she was offering. What she was telling him without words.
“You asked me to move in with you, and I ran.” Her voice held a thread of steel under the vulnerability. “Now I’m asking you. Can I come home, Noah? To you?”
Everything inside him unraveled, walls crumbling as if made of sand instead of the steel he’d thought he’d used. He turned to face her fully, searching her eyes for any trace of doubt or fear. “You’re really doing this? No reservations, no panic, no running away when it gets too intense?”
“I can’t promise I’ll never be scared.” The honesty in her admission reached places he’d thought untouchable.
“But I can promise I won’t run from us again.
Not from you. Not from us.” She reached for his hand, her fingers cool against his overheated skin.
“I love you, Noah Colton. Not because I nearly died, but because living without you isn’t really living at all. ”
Her words unlocked something in his chest, but caution, that unfamiliar emotion that had never been his companion until recently, still held him back. “This isn’t too fast for you? You’ve made such a big deal about your space. About giving you time to figure things out.”
“I was freaking out. I readily admit it.” She stepped closer, her free hand rising to touch his face in a gesture so achingly tender it nearly undid him.
“But I didn’t really need space or time to know how I feel.
What I needed was a kick in the pants to make me realize you were going to slip through my fingers if I didn’t get my act together.
I couldn’t live with that. Or have any kind of life that you weren’t in. ”
For a heartbeat, Noah stood frozen, searching her eyes as if he could read the future there.
Then he was in motion before he could think, pulling her against him with all the force of emotions he’d been damming up since finding her in that cave. Since before that—since the first moment he’d seen her staring down Bonner at the recovery site, fierce and unyielding.
“I love you,” he murmured against her hair, the words inadequate for the torrent of feeling pouring through him. “I love you so much I can’t find the words.”
“There you are,” she murmured, her arms crushing him in kind. “But why did you pull away at the canyon? The hospital? When I tried to tell you how I felt—you scared me.”
“You scared me,” he admitted, his voice rough with the confession. “I’m not scared of loving you. I was already there, no going back. But I couldn’t watch you walk away again once the adrenaline wore off. Or hear you say things in the heat of the moment that you’d regret later.”
“I won’t regret it,” she said, tightening her grip on his hand.
“I love you, Noah. Cave or no cave, life-threatening situation or ordinary Tuesday. I love your intensity and your honesty and the way you dive into everything without looking for the landing pad first. I love that you push me to be better while accepting exactly who I am.”
The last of his resistance melted as he hefted her deeper into his embrace. The scent of hospital antiseptic still clung to her, but beneath it was pure Sabrina—sunshine and adrenaline and the kind of trouble that had always been his weakness.
“I never thought I’d hear you say those words,” he murmured against her temple.
“Get used to it.” She leaned back to meet his gaze, her smile tremulous but real. “I plan to say them a lot.”
His thumb traced the curve of her cheekbone, memorizing the feel of her skin. “I love you, Sabrina West. Every fierce, independent, terrifying inch of you.”
“Even the parts that panic and run?” Her tone was light, teasing. But he heard the vulnerability beneath it.
“Especially those parts.” His smile broke free, the first genuine one since finding her in that cave. “Besides, I’m pretty good at finding you when you run.”
She smirked. “I’m counting on that. Though I don’t plan on testing your skills again anytime soon.”
“Good.” He brushed his lips against hers, a promise. “Because I have plans for us, Sabrina West. Big ones.”
“Like what?” The spark in her eyes had returned full force, challenging and irresistible.
“Like waking up together. Working cases together. Building a life where neither of us has to dial it back or pretend to be less than we are.” His gaze held hers, utterly serious despite the smile he couldn’t contain. “I want it all with you.”
“I want that too,” she whispered. “All of it.”
When he kissed her, it wasn’t gentle. This was his most authentic self—intense, passionate, holding nothing back. All the fear and longing of the past days poured into a connection that burned away any lingering doubts.
“I can’t believe you rented a moving truck,” he said when they finally broke apart, both breathless.
“I don’t do anything halfway,” she replied, throwing his own words back at him with a smile that lit up every dark corner inside him. “Not anymore. Not with you.”
His answer was another kiss, fierce with promise and possibilities. “We should probably start unloading before it gets dark.”
“Probably.” But neither of them moved, too caught in the miracle of reconnection. “We still have a case to solve,” she added. “Annie Ross, the woman from the fire, the man who chased me. They’re all connected.”
“I know.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, marveling that he could touch her like this again. That she wanted him to. “But we’ll figure it out. Together.”
“Together.” Her smile was like sunrise after the longest night. “My favorite word.”
“Mine too.” He kissed her again, briefly but with a promise that curled his toes. “Welcome home, Sabrina West.”
As twilight transformed Dark Canyon into a landscape of shadows and possibility, they unloaded the truck box by box, piece by piece, their laughter echoing across the yard.
The case wasn’t over. Annie Ross’s killer was still out there, the woman from the fire still unconscious, questions still unanswered.
But Noah had stopped looking for perfect landings. Sometimes you just had to jump and trust that the right person would be there to catch you.