Chapter 46
The Sugar & Salt reopening was a success.
By four in the afternoon, Cara's bakery was spotless again, the display cases empty, and every table wiped clean.
The whole town had shown up. Pastor Ben had blessed the space with words about restoration and second chances.
People had bought pastries, offered congratulations, and reminded her that Haven Cove took care of its own.
Her found family had worked the chaos with style—Reagan on the register, Tom handling crowd control, Wade bussing tables while looking like he was planning military operations, and Piper documenting everything for what she called "posterity and college applications."
Now the bakery was quiet. The five of them hunched over hot chocolates.
"Okay." Reagan set down her mug. "Everyone to the basement. Now."
Cara blinked. "What?"
"Basement. All of us. Come on."
Tom and Wade exchanged glances. Piper grinned like she'd been waiting for this moment her entire life.
They descended the stairs to where Cara stored flour and supplies.
Except now there was a door. A serious door with a keypad and reinforced frame and hinges.
"We added a few features," Wade said.
“Sorry, not sorry,” Piper added.
He punched in a code. The lock disengaged.
Inside was a room she'd never seen. Twenty by twenty. Conference table. Computers. Secure storage. Equipment that looked expensive and possibly illegal.
"What is this?" Her voice came out faint.
"Haven Investigations," Piper announced. "I came up with the name."
Reagan gestured at the table. "Sit. Let us explain."
Tom pulled out a chair across from her. "We all have skills we don't talk about. Skills that don't match our cover stories."
"You're not the only one with a past," Reagan said.
"Exactly." Tom's expression was serious. "We worked together. Saved David. Saw what we could do as a team. So we're making it official. Sort of."
Piper bounced in her seat. "We're forming an investigative team. For cases the police can't handle. For people who need help."
Cara stared at them. "You want to do this regularly."
Tom raised his hands, palms out. "Only if you're in."
"Why me?"
"Because you're good at this," Wade said. "And because we trust you."
"Even though you don't know who I really am."
"We know who you are now," Reagan said. "That's enough."
This was exposure. Risk. Everything she'd been avoiding.
This was also purpose. Community. Being part of something that mattered.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I need this in my life.” Reagan crossed her arms and dropped her gaze to the newly tiled floor. “My ex-husband was DEA. Bent. Taking bribes. I turned him in and lost everything. Witsec dropped me here."
"I did signal intelligence for the Army," Tom said. "Cryptography. Electronic warfare. People like me don’t get to ‘retire’ gracefully. Haven Cove was supposed to be a way stop for Piper and me, but we like it here."
Wade was silent.
"Your turn," Piper prompted.
"Different branch. Different specialty. Different reasons for leaving." His tone said that was all they'd get. "But I'm here now. And I'm in."
Cara looked around the table. At trust freely given despite incomplete information. At family.
"Okay. Me, too," she said. The words felt like jumping into cold water. "But we need rules. We don't ask about each other's pasts unless someone volunteers. We don't investigate each other. Ever. We trust."
"Agreed," everyone said.
They spent another hour discussing logistics before heading out with promises to reconvene the next afternoon.
After the others left, Reagan stayed behind. She sat at the corner table with two fresh mugs of tea. "Sit. Now." She shoved a mug toward Cara. "We need to talk."
Cara sat and wrapped her hands around the warm mug. "If this is about the team—"
"Are you okay with it?"
"I am."
Reagan nodded slowly. "You fit, Cara. With this. With us."
The words settled warm in her chest.
"So what about you and the hunky FBI agent?" Reagan's question came out of nowhere. "How are you doing with that?"
"What?" Cara nearly dropped her mug.
"I saw something between you two. The way he looked at you when you weren't watching. And the way you looked at him. That was something special."
"He's a great guy." Cara kept her voice neutral. "The kind of guy someone could build a real relationship with."
"But not you."
"Not me."
Reagan's frown carried genuine confusion.
Cara stared into her mug. "You know we don't talk about our pasts. There are reasons for that."
"I know." Reagan's tone gentled. "But Cara, whatever you're running from—"
"It's not that simple."
"It never is." Reagan reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "But you're going to have to figure something out. Fast."
"What do you mean?"
Reagan's smile was equal parts sympathy and mischief. " Mr. Tall Dark and Hunky is coming back. He took the interim police chief job here in Haven Cove. Pearl heard it from Lizzy at the realty office. He starts next week."
Delight shot through her so fast it made her dizzy. Gabe was staying. She'd see him. They could have more time.
Then fear crashed in right behind it.
Gabe was staying. A federal agent with access to every conceivable database. Living in the same small town.
Eventually he'd find out. And then what?
She'd have to run again. Leave everything. Leave him.
Or stay and watch him choose between his oath and protecting a fugitive.
Reagan watched her process. "Yeah. That's what I thought."
"I don't know what to do."
"You pray about it. Maybe it's time to trust someone with the truth." Reagan stood and squeezed her shoulder. "Or you keep running. But Cara? You're tired of running. I can see it."
Reagan slipped outside before Cara could respond.
Gabe was staying.
Lord, I don't know what to do here. I want to stay. Want to see where this could go. Want to be part of this family, this team, this life I'm building. But I can't tell him the truth. Can't make him choose between his career and protecting me. So what now?
Outside, the ocean crashed against rocks. Relentless. Eternal. The same sound that had welcomed her to Haven Cove six months ago.
The man she was falling for wasn't going anywhere.
Neither was the past she was hiding from.
Something had to give.
She prayed it wouldn't be her heart.
Don’t miss the next Sweet and Sawyer adventure!