Harlequin Intrigue April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2, Carol Ericson [good book recommendations TXT] 📗

She’d spent the past week at home recuperating. Although the most concerning of her injuries had been the repeated hits she’d taken to her head, everything had looked normal on all the tests. It was the small puncture wounds across her arm from the nail board, her sliced-open hands from hanging on to the edge of the truck and the split on her forehead requiring stitches that had actually kept her away longest.

“Desparre has truly become a home to me,” she continued, wanting to get it all out before she became overemotional. “It’s going to be hard to leave.”

“You’re leaving?” Nate Dreymond asked, surprise and disappointment in his tone.

He wasn’t officially back on duty yet and wouldn’t be for a few weeks, at least. But ever since he’d been released from the hospital, he’d come in each day to see his colleagues.

Talise, too, had woken from her coma. She was still in the hospital, but doctors expected her to make a full recovery.

The town was moving forward. With Todd Margrove behind bars and expected never to be free again, it was going to help everyone heal. Including her.

“It’s time,” she told them, even though she’d never expected to be leaving the place that had given her so much after Juan died. It had given her a reason to live again, a purpose to help her move on. And it had led her to Jax.

She glanced behind her, where Jax and Patches stood in the doorway. Patches was fidgeting, more full of puppy energy than Keara was used to, her tail thumping whenever Keara glanced her way. Jax was more subdued, his arm still in a sling, the sympathy in his gaze lending her strength.

He knew this wasn’t easy for her. But she’d come back to Desparre someday, to see the people and the place that had changed her life.

“Where are you going?” The way Tate’s gaze shifted briefly to Jax when he asked it, he probably already knew.

“I’m moving to Anchorage. I’m going to be a detective again.”

She’d officially had her interview over the phone two days ago, gotten the call that they wanted her yesterday. It probably hadn’t hurt that a longtime agent of the FBI had contacted them and said they’d be crazy not to hire her.

The officers glanced at each other again, and she could feel the mix of emotions in the room: still some confusion and sadness, but they were happy for her, too.

Technically, being a detective was a step down. And moving across the state, to a place where she barely knew anyone, was definitely a sacrifice.

It was also fast. Fast enough that it scared her a little. If she was being honest with herself, it scared her a lot.

She’d known Juan for more than a year before they started dating, had been with him for nearly three years before they got married. But she’d only spent a year as his wife before losing him.

She didn’t want to waste any time with Jax, didn’t want to look back and have regrets. Not everyone got a second chance like this and she wasn’t going to let it go because she was afraid.

She hadn’t wanted to fall for him. Hell, she hadn’t wanted to fall for anyone, especially not someone who was remotely in harm’s way. And despite Jax’s official title, he was too good at psychoanalysis to stay completely removed from the investigative side of things. He would never be one hundred percent safe.

Then again, no one was.

“Congratulations,” Charlie said, his voice booming over the silence that had fallen.

Then all of her officers were chiming in, offering her congratulatory handshakes and hugs.

Twenty minutes later she walked to the door, giving the room one last, long look. She wasn’t officially leaving for a few weeks. She was going to help find her replacement, so she wouldn’t leave the town she loved in a lurch. But today felt like goodbye.

As she reached him, Jax took her hand and she smiled at him. Today also felt like a new beginning.

Woof! Patches said and Keara laughed, bending down to pet her. Then she stood and took Jax’s hand again.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Jax asked as they stepped outside into the brilliant sunshine. “You know I’m willing to do any amount of jumper flights. Patches and I can try to be here every weekend if you want to stay.”

He gestured at the police station where she’d spent so many of her waking hours in the past six years. “I know these people have become like family to you.”

Keara squeezed his hand tighter. “I’ve loved being a chief. And you’re right, I’m going to really miss everyone in Desparre. But being a detective is in my blood.”

She let out a cleansing breath. “After Juan’s murder went cold, I didn’t want to do it anymore. Every part of being a detective was just a reminder that he didn’t have any justice. But I’m ready now.”

She stared up at him, knowing he could probably read her nervousness in her smile. “I want to do it near you. If you don’t think it’s too soon.”

“Too soon?” He laughed. “I was ready to profess my love a week ago.”

She felt herself jerk slightly, at the surprise of his words, at the fear they evoked inside her. But she pushed the fear down. There were no guarantees in life, but Jax had faced down a murderer for her. They’d both come out of it alive. And for as long as they both had left, she wanted to be with him.

A grin burst free, the fear suddenly overrun by an absolute certainty that she was doing the right thing. “I love you, too, Jax.”

Woof!

Keara laughed, the sound louder and more gleeful than expected, as she bent to scratch Patches’s ears. “I love you, too, Patches.”

As she stood again, still holding tight to Jax’s hand, he tugged her toward the park. Work was already well