Desire punched Chris in the gut. Somehow or another, Denise had only become more beautiful since the last time he’d seen her. He’d thought it the other day when he found her instead of her cousin. Jesus, that had thrown him for a damn loop. He tried to remember if she’d ever mentioned her cousin’s name, but he didn’t think she had.

She twisted her thick, honey-blond hair up into a knot on top of her head and wrapped a rubber band around it. Standing with her hands on her hips she looked down at the little boy he knew was her cousin. Second cousin? Although both he and the little girl called her “Aunt,” so who knew. He had wondered for a second if she’d kept having kids from him when they were together. They were both mini versions of her. Same hair and eye color. He made a mental note to dig up a picture of Sarah Reed to see how similar she and Denise looked.

He pushed his hair away from his forehead. It’d gotten longer than he liked to keep it while he’d been undercover. Though on the list of shit he’d had to concede, it was pretty damn low.

Leaving Denise with no warning at all topped the list. She was holding a grudge, not that he could blame her. Trying to pass her a message at the last minute hadn’t been ideal, but she of all people should understand sometimes the job took more than you expected. Her indifference to his return bugged the crap out of him. Running into her at her cousin’s hadn’t been the plan. The plan had been to call her and then take her out to dinner, explain everything to her—what had gone down and why he’d been called in so suddenly. Apologize and make it right, hopefully pick back up where they’d left it. Or at least close to where they’d left it.

Jase approached him with a beer in each hand and held one out to him. “You good, man?”

Chris took the beer and raised it in a silent toast. “As good as can be expected.” Which was pretty damn bad, all things considered. He downed a good portion of the bottle.

“What’s up with your leg?” Jase pointed with the bottom of his beer.

Chris looked down and sighed. “Took a knife to the thigh.” More like a hatchet.

“Shit. What the hell happened?”

Chris swallowed a sip of beer. “I’ll tell you when the drinks are stronger and the ears aren’t so small.” He nodded his head toward Kaden, who stood with his hand on one of the dogs, staring at them.

Jase looked between Kaden and Chris. “Why does he look like you’re going to steal his dog?”

“I didn’t get the warmest reception from Denise when I showed up at their house the other day looking for his mom.”

“Sarah?” Jase asked. “She’s in hospice.”

The little girl, Kimber, called Kaden’s name and he walked away from them.

“Yeah. We didn’t have that intel,” Chris said.

“Intel? Ah, fuck. Is this about her ex?”

Chris’s focus honed in on his friend. “You know about him?”

Jase shook his head. “Just enough to know it’s a good thing he’s in jail.”

“He’s out.”

“Shit. Does Denise know?”

“I dropped that bombshell on her when I found her instead of Sarah Reed.”

His eyebrows rose and he looked like he was pondering something in his head. “Was that the first time she’d seen you since you’ve been back?”

“Uh, yup.” He swallowed the last of his beer.

“That’s a pretty compact shovel you’ve got there. Can hardly see it.”

“What shovel?”

“The one you’re using to dig that huge fucking hole you’re in.”

Chris rolled his eyes, but Jase wasn’t wrong. He was living Murphy’s Law. If it could go wrong, then it would. His hair fell into his face and he tried to tuck it behind his ears. He growled in frustration when it wouldn’t stay put. What he needed was some clippers, but of course his had quit working. And his beer was empty.

Fuck you, Murphy.

“Jase!” Bree yelled from the kitchen.

“Yeah, babe?” he asked over his shoulder.

“You gonna cook this meat or what? The natives are restless.”

“Coming.” He turned back to Chris. “The woman wants my meat.”

“Dude. How long you been saving that for?”

Jase laughed. “A while. Bree doesn’t appreciate my humor nearly as much as she should.”

He couldn’t imagine why. “Do tell.”

“I think it’s because she compares mine to Denise’s. That woman is the queen of one-liners.” He jerked his head toward the kitchen. “Come on. You can help man the grill.”

He nodded and followed him through the kitchen to the back deck, grabbing another beer along the way. He leaned against the railing and scanned the large yard. The kids ran back and forth with Bree’s dogs, while Denise’s dog lay in the shade of a large magnolia.

“This is a nice property,” he said.

“You didn’t see it last time you were here?”

“We didn’t come out back, just stayed in the kitchen.

“Oh, yeah. It was Bree’s grandparents’.” He threw burgers on the grill and dropped the lid. “We talked about moving in here, but decided my place made more sense since I use the back of the property for V.E.T. Adventures.”

Shifting his hips against the railing to take some of the weight off his leg, he teased out the information Jase didn’t come right out and say. “You’re moving in together?”

A huge, shit-eating grin spread across his face. “Yeah.”

Chris sipped his beer. “It looks good on you.”

“What’s that?”

“Domestic bliss.” It did. His friend no longer had that hollow, haunted look that had been a constant since his best friend Tony’s death.

“Damn straight.” He lifted the grill lid and flipped the burgers. “You should try it.”

He shook his head. “Pretty sure I’ve lost any chance of that.”

“Doesn’t hurt to give it another shot. Second chances do happen.”

Bree stepped onto the deck with two bowls of food before he could respond. She set them on the table, then joined them at the grill and slid an arm around Jase’s waist.

“How much longer?”

He slung an arm around her shoulders and kissed her. “‘Bout five minutes.”

Chris shifted his gaze away from them and locked eyes with Denise as she exited the house. Her eyes flared and then went flat before she looked away and set down the plates she was carrying.

That hollow feeling he’d had since leaving months ago spread a few inches deeper in his chest.

She put two fingers in her mouth and blew a sharp whistle. “Kimber! Kaden! Come wash up.”

The kids ran up the steps, across the porch, and into the house, their shrieks of laughter and two dogs following them.

“See,” Bree said to Denise. “Perfect.”

“You don’t have to sell it to me. I already said yes.”

“Yes to what?” Jase asked.

“Denise is going to move into the house with the kids. It’s perfect. There’s plenty of room and the schools in the district are some of the best in the state.”

“I said yes, Bree. Quit Vanna Whiting your house.”

Bree dropped her arm from around Jase. “Did you just use Vanna White as a verb?”

“I don’t know any of the models’ names from The Price is Right or I would have used one of them as a verb instead.”

Chris looked down at his shoes to hide his grin. God, those two were a riot when they were together. He’d forgotten how funny they were while he was knee-deep in the excrement of human existence during the last assignment. Denise’s sarcastic wit was one of the things that had attracted her to him in the first place.

The kids burst out of the house. “All clean, Aunt Denny.”

“Good job. Can you guys get cups and the pitcher of water and bring them out?”

“Okay,” the little girl said. They ran back into the house.

“Do they ever walk anywhere?” Bree asked.

“Not usually.”

The kids returned with the cups and pitcher and everyone jockeyed for seats around the table. For one awkward moment, he thought he and Denise would end up sitting next to each other, but Kimber asked Bree to sit by her, leaving him the seat at the end of the table.

Disappointment and relief warred for top billing position. He wanted a chance to talk to her, but here and now would be uncomfortable. Better to try to get her alone after dinner.

A lock of hair fell across his eyes when he reached for the coleslaw. Shoving it behind his ears wasn’t working. “Bree, do you have any hair thingies?”

“Pretty sure she’s got some bows and ribbons you can use, Rapunzel,” Jase said.

Kimber giggled next to him and he winked at her.

“Don’t be an ass.” Bree whacked Jase in the chest with the back of her hand. “I have some hair ties. I’ll grab you one.”

“Why don’t you just buzz it?” Jared asked around a mouthful of burger.

“You got clippers?”

“Yeah.”

“No!” Kimber wasn’t giggling. “If you cut your hair, you’ll lose your magical powers.”

“This is your influence.” Denise glared across the table at Bree.

She wore an amused smile. “I take all the credit.”

“You can’t cut it!” Tears welled up in the little girl’s eyes.

“Kimber, sweetie, it’s just hair. It will grow back,” Denise said, reaching for the girl’s hand.

She snatched her hand away. “It won’t! All of Mommy’s hair fell out and she’s going to die!” She shoved back from the table and ran into the house. Denise’s dog quickly rose from where she lay and trotted after her. It was the first time he’d seen the dog do anything other than mosey.

He swallowed hard, at a total loss for how to handle this kind of situation. Murderous gang? Sure, no problem. Hostage standoff? Bring it on. Little girl faced with the reality that happy endings are few and far between? Complete and utter blank.

On his left, Kaden sat quietly with big fat tears rolling down his pale cheeks.

Denise scooted back her chair and reached for him. “Come on, buddy. Let’s go talk to your sister.” She hefted the little boy in her arms, no easy feat since he was almost as tall as she was. His thin arms and legs wrapped around Denise and he held on as if she were his lifeline. And she was. She was almost all those two kids had left in the world.

And their father was a wanted criminal he’d been charged to find and arrest.

Fuck. Murphy was an asshole.