“You’re sure about this?”

Miguel smiled. “I’m sure.”

Alex stared at the tiny apartment. It was sparsely furnished, not much bigger than Grandma Isabel’s studio apartment at the assisted living facility. The only difference was that this place had a separate bedroom and a slightly larger kitchen.

“I don’t know,” Alex said, frowning.

“It’s yours if you want it,” Miguel told him. “Assuming that kid doesn’t need it. Necco, right?”

Alex nodded. “He’s good.”

They’d found a place for Necco to go. A quick phone call to Doug Kowalski had sealed the deal. Necco would follow in Alex’s footsteps, put in some work on the farm. With luck, and with Doug’s firm but gentle guidance, Necco would get his life turned around.

Miguel leaned against the kitchen counter. “The unit has sat empty for months now. Could probably use some TLC.”

“Why?” Alex asked.

“Why what?”

“Why has it been empty?” The apartment they were standing in was attached to the clinic where Miguel worked. It occupied the back corner of the building and had its own separate entrance.

“Because I don’t want to live here,” Miguel said simply. “I spend enough time here as it is. When I’m off for the night, I want to go home, not to the back of this building.”

“Well?” A new voice spoke from the doorway.

Cam was standing there, her hands on her hips. She walked toward them, the boot on her foot slowing her progress a little. “What do you think?”

Alex surveyed the apartment one more time. The carpet was thin, the paint on the walls faded, and the kitchen appliances looked as though they’d last been updated in the 80s.

Despite these things, though, he had to admit that it was pretty perfect. Red Lake was hours from Bentley, completely remote. The principles of his gang had been arrested, but even though most of the threat felt like it had been eliminated, he didn’t want to take chances by sticking too close to town.

Red Lake was not close.

Not by a long shot.

He could stay there for a while and regroup. Getting to Bentley to testify would be doable.

And Cam wouldn’t be too far away.

She would have a reason to visit Red Lake. Two reasons, actually. Her brother and now him.

Cam slipped her hand into his. “It’s perfect.”

He nodded. “It really is.”

She looked up at him, her dark eyes shining. “So you’ll stay here?”

He hesitated.

There were still so many things up in the air. A job, for one. He wasn’t sure he could go back to working for a police department. The trust simply wasn’t there. Cam had suggested he follow in the footsteps of a former Aspen Falls cop and become a private investigator. He hadn’t ruled that out completely, but he wasn’t ready to commit. He’d gone headfirst into law enforcement, treating it as a path out of somewhere rather than a road leading to a destination.

He wanted to figure out just where he wanted to go.

Cam cleared her throat and he knew she was waiting for an answer.

His heart constricted as the truth hit him full force.

She was his destination.

He knew this as well as he knew the sky was blue.

Cam had been the missing piece in his life.

It didn’t matter what he did with his life, where he lived.

All that mattered was that she was a part of it.

“Dude,” Miguel said, breaking the silence. “I think she’s waiting for an answer.”

Alex squeezed Cam’s hand, then pulled her against him, resting his cheek on her soft dark hair. “I’ll stay.”

Her arm wrapped around his waist, a soft sound of approval coming out of her.

And in his mind, he added a few more words.

With you.

Forever.