The Finish (The Eliminator Series Book 12), Mike Ryan [summer reading list .txt] 📗

person I want to be. The person I used to be. I’m not sure I can ever get there again, get that back, but I am going to try. I hope you’ll understand. I’ll always love you. And there won’t be a day that I don’t ever think about you and the kids.”

Jacobs cleared his throat, then wiped the tears that were forming in his eyes. Tiffany looked on, wiping her own eyes. She knew how hard this was for Jacobs. She knew he never expected to move on, either in body or in spirit. But here he was, doing exactly that.

After another minute, Jacobs was able to compose himself, and he stood up. He went over to each headstone and kissed it. Tiffany smiled at him as he walked back to her. They stood there for another minute, holding hands, just looking at the graves. There were no other words that needed to be said.

Jacobs turned and looked at his girlfriend. “You ready?”

“Yeah.”

They turned and started to leave. They walked only a couple of steps, though, before stopping. Tiffany had something else on her mind.

“Actually, could you give me a minute?”

“Sure,” Jacobs replied.

They released each other’s hand, and Tiffany walked back to the graves. She went over to Valerie’s grave, kneeling on one knee, in almost the exact same spot that Jacobs had.

“Hi. I guess this is kind of awkward, huh? I’m not really sure what to say. I guess I just want you to know that I’m going to take very good care of him. I could never replace what you guys shared. You had something very special, and I could never take that away. I hope Brett and I could create our own special thing, similar to what you had. But you will always be in his heart. I just hope you know that.”

Tiffany paused for a second, looking over at the graves of the kids. Gunner had nestled his way in between them again. She smiled at him.

“I wish I could have met all of you under different circumstances. You’d love Gunner.” She took a deep breath. “I just wanted you to know that you don’t have to worry about him anymore. I’ll do everything I can to make him happy again. And I hope we’ll have your blessing up there.”

Tiffany reached out and touched Valerie’s grave. She stood back up and walked over to Jacobs again. As she reached him, he put his arm around her and hugged her, kissing the top of her head.

“It means a lot that you’re here,” Jacobs said.

“Of course. There’s nowhere else I’d want to be than with you right here.”

Jacobs grinned. “You know, I used to think that…” He looked back to the graves for a second. He put his arm up toward them. “After all this, I used to think that…” He was having trouble putting into words what he was thinking.

“What?”

“I don’t know. I guess for so long I’ve focused on the bad things and what I’ve lost.”

“Well, you did lose everything. It’s understandable.”

“But I really haven’t focused on the good. On what I had. And what I have.”

“Which is?”

“I had the best kids I could have asked for. We had great times. And I had the love of a special woman. The love of a lifetime.” He looked deep into Tiffany’s eyes. “And now I’ve got it again. With someone else who’s just as special. I’m lucky that I get to experience that twice.” He leaned his head down and kissed her on the lips.

“I just hope you’ll eventually be as happy with me as you once were with her.”

Jacobs smiled and kissed her again. “I already am.”

They looked up, finally seeing a glimpse of the sun, which was now shining down on them. They both looked up and smiled, feeling like that was some type of sign from Valerie. Jacobs put his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulder as they started walking back through the cemetery.

He looked back at his dog. “C’mon, Gunner.”

Gunner got up and ran over to them.

“I think we should take some time off,” Jacobs said.

“Oh?” Tiffany said. “And do what?”

“I dunno. Let’s just take a vacation somewhere. Ever since we met, we’ve been ducking bullets, escaping tragedies, and fighting bad guys. I think we should take a few weeks, just for us. Kind of get reacquainted, without having to worry about anything else.”

Tiffany smiled. “I like that idea. Did you have somewhere special in mind?”

“I don’t know. Maybe somewhere warm and beachy. Florida, California, Hawaii, someplace like that.”

“I think that sounds terrific.”

Once they got back to the car, they stood near the passenger door and put their arms around each other.

“I feel like I’ve waited so long for this day,” Tiffany said. “It feels… so free. Like we don’t have any more troubles.”

“We don’t.”

She looked up at him. “Are you sure?”

“I’m through with this life. Now all that matters is you and me.” Gunner was sitting next to them and barked. They both looked down and laughed at him. “Yeah, and you too, bud.”

She put her hands on his face and planted another kiss on him. “I love you.”

Jacobs kissed her back. “I love you too. Are you sure I’m not gonna be too much of a reclamation project for you?”

Tiffany shook her head. “Nope. You’re just what I’ve wanted. And I am not letting you go.”

Jacobs put his arms around her waist, bringing her in tight. “And I’m not letting you go either. We’re stuck to each other now.” He gave her another kiss. “Forever.”

Author Notes

Wow. The end of the series. If you’ve made this far, I want to thank you for reading along for this entire journey. I really appreciate your support. I never take it for granted. In regards to the series, I wanted to give you my thoughts and feelings about it now that we’ve wrapped it up, and give you some insights into my process for it.

This last book, The Finish, was the hardest book of