“Holy fuck,” Beau panted.
The room was spinning, there was a lock of hair in my mouth and my heart was pounding like I’d just run a mile being chased by a bear.
It. Was. Awesome.
“I love this bed,” I sighed once I could breathe again.
I was going to be a happy and thoroughly satisfied woman by the end of our lazy Sunday in bed. Beau and I’d had sex twice already this morning and it was only nine.
“I need food.” Beau sat up on the edge of the bed, reaching back to tickle my naked side.
I giggled, swatting his hand away as his phone started buzzing on the nightstand again. It had rung three times earlier, but since I’d been riding him hard at the time, he’d ignored it.
Rolling onto my side and propping up on an elbow, I stared greedily at Beau’s naked backside as he walked into the bathroom with his phone pressed to his ear. Oh, boy.
“Yeah, I’m home,” Beau said to whoever was on the phone. “Okay. See you in a few.”
I shot up in a panic. Was someone coming over here? Did that mean I needed to hide out? I definitely needed to get dressed.
Beau came out of the bathroom and I flew past him, frantically digging in my bag to get some panties.
“Jess is on his way over,” he said
“Okay.” I nodded but kept digging for a bra. “I’ll get dressed and just stay up here. Or should I go downstairs? Shit, I need my laundry.”
“Calm down.” Beau chuckled and hugged me from behind, trapping my flailing arms. “We can let him know you’re here.”
“Are you sure?” I used the mirror to find his eyes. “I thought I was on secret lockdown here.”
“I think it’s safe to tell the sheriff, don’t you?”
“Yeah.” My shoulders relaxed away from my ears. “But I still need my laundry.”
Beau kissed my hair and let me go. “I’ll go get it.”
I did my business in the bathroom while Beau dressed in the walk-in closet and hauled up my basket of clean clothes.
“There’s a couple of drawers free in the closet,” he said. “Take as much space as you need.”
“Thanks.” I blew him a kiss and finished getting dressed.
By the time I came downstairs, Beau was opening the door for Jess. The sheriff’s eyes snapped to me and he frowned at Beau. “I see we’ve got some catching up to do.”
“Yep. Come on in.” Beau led Jess to the kitchen and held out a hand for me to join them. “Sabrina came back with me yesterday. I don’t want her up in the mountains alone when the snow hits so she’s going to lay low here. Other than me and you, I don’t think we need to broadcast her new location.”
“Agreed.” Jess leaned his forearms on the counter.
“Coffee?” Beau asked.
“Sure. Listen, sorry to barge in, but we’ve got a problem. Couple of kids went hunting up by Wade Lake yesterday and didn’t come back. Parents called it into the station this morning, requesting you personally go find them.”
“Shit,” Beau muttered and glanced at me by the coffee pot. “So much for a day off.”
“Sorry,” Jess said. “My guess is that the boys got something big and by the time they packed it out, it was dark. We’ll probably drive up there and find them sleeping in their car but there’s a chance they got turned around.”
“Who are they?”
“Levi and Chase Brooks.”
Beau shook his head. “Ah, now I get it.”
“Get what?” I asked.
“Levi and Chase Brooks’s mom is in my mom’s quilting club.” Beau pulled his phone from his pocket and waved it in the air. “Mom was the one calling me earlier when we were busy.”
“Oh.” I blushed and looked to my coffee cup.
Jess tried to hide it, but I caught his grin. He knew exactly what we’d been doing during those missed calls.
“This is a pretty small search and rescue case for you, hotshot,” Jess said. “But if you don’t go up there, all of those women in your mom’s quilting club are going to be calling me all damn day. My guess is they’ll be banging down your door too.”
I didn’t want to miss out on my lazy day with Beau but I really didn’t want his mom or her friends coming to his house.
“I’ll go up.” Beau ran a hand over his beard. “Let’s not call in the whole search and rescue team unless we need to though. I’ll see if I can track them down first.”
“Want some company?” Jess asked. “I bet Silas would come up with us.”
“Sure, that would be great. Let me eat some breakfast and call Mom back, then I’ll get my gear.”
“I’ll call the guys,” Jess said, going into the living room.
I went to the fridge for the eggs. “And I’ll make breakfast before you go.”
“Sorry, Shortcake.”
I smiled. “Don’t be.”
I loved that Beau was part of the hero squad. I just wished he had more time to do what he really wanted to do. He was always rushing to someone’s rescue, mine included. What did Beau want from his life?
But since now wasn’t the time for that question, I hustled to cook him breakfast.
Twenty minutes later, Jess had left to pick up Silas, I was doing the dishes and Beau was changed and ready to go, pulling a baseball cap over his hair.
“Have you seen my compass?” he asked.
“Your what?”
“My compass. Silver.” He made a two-inch circle with his hand. “About this big.”
“Oh, I thought that was a pocket watch.”
I’d seen it at the outpost before but had never opened it. Beau had always left it in the middle of the counter with his keys and the contents of his jeans pockets. This morning, I’d set it aside with his truck keys so it wouldn’t be in the way of my cooking.
“Here you go,” I said, handing it over. “It’s lovely.”
The antique silver faces on both the front and back had been tooled with intricate swirls and feathers around the word HOLT. It reminded me of an oversized locket but without the chain.
“This was my grandpa’s. He gave it to me when I was a kid since he knew how much I loved camping and hiking. He taught me how to use it and promised that if I kept it close, I’d never get lost.”
“That’s amazing.” What a wonderful story. Holt’s Compass. The words popped into my head and I instantly loved it as a title for my new book.
Beau swiped his thumb across the compass’s face, then dropped it in his jeans pocket. “Grandpa died five years ago but I like carrying this piece of him around.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” He gave me a sad smile. “Anyway, I better get going.”
“Good luck.”
He bent and kissed my cheek. “Be back soon. Come on, Boone.”
When the garage door closed behind Beau and Boone, I stood in the quiet kitchen and looked around, unsure what to do with myself. I could write another chapter in my new book or watch TV. It was strange not to have Boone around and his absence was making me twitchy. At the outpost, I’d spend a good part of my day talking to him.
“Is it crazy to talk to a dog?” I asked myself. “No, but it is crazy to talk to a kitchen.”
Thinking about the kitchen sent me snooping, and when I came across the cleaning supplies under the sink, I decided that mopping and dusting was the perfect Sunday activity to keep myself occupied until Beau came back with Boone. The place was fairly clean already, but since I couldn’t do household errands like going to the grocery store, I figured cleaning and cooking could be my contribution.
So I dove right in, starting with the kitchen floors.
I was on my hands and knees scrubbing the tile between the fridge and the island when I heard the front door lock click open.
Someone was here. Oh, shit. I crouched lower and froze, listening for voices. It wasn’t Beau, he would have come through the garage. Was it his mom? Whoever it was definitely had a key. How would I explain to her what I was doing in Beau’s house? Maybe I could say I was a cleaning lady.
The door swung open and I started to panic. Escape wasn’t an option and I couldn’t just pop up from behind the counter now, pretending to be Beau’s housekeeper. I’d scare the visitor half to death.
Maybe it was Michael. Please be Michael.
“Come on, buddy,” a woman’s voice called outside.
Curses! Not Michael.
“Let’s see if we can find your me-me,” she said.
“Where do you think he left it?” another woman’s voice called from outside.
I knew that voice.
I’d lived with that voice for years.
Felicity.
Little feet pounded across the wood floors and the door clicked shut. This had to be Maisy and Coby with Felicity in tow.
People I really wanted to see but couldn’t. People who would be at risk if they knew I was staying in Beau’s house. People who were just on the other side of the island from where I was hiding.
Maybe they’ll leave. Maybe they’ll get what they came for and then slip out. If I stayed right here, hidden, they might not even know I was in the house.
“All right, buddy, where did you leave your me-me?” Maisy asked Coby as the front door closed.
“Boone bed,” his little voice answered.
“Okay, let’s check his bed.”
No! The dog’s bed was between me and the laundry room. I started to inch backward, hoping I could slink around the far side of the island and hide until they’d gone by. I was almost to the corner when my hand slipped on the wet tile and went crashing into the water bucket. Suds and water splashed everywhere and the bucket clanked, causing me to wince and my visitors to gasp.
“Oh my god,” Maisy cried. “What was that?”
“Who’s there?” Felicity demanded.
Damn. Damn. Damn. So much for hiding out.
“Sorry,” I squeaked, then slowly stood from behind the counter to reveal myself. I gave them an awkward wave when I cleared the counter. “It’s just me.”
“Sabrina?” Felicity gasped. “What? You’re here? When—How—” She rushed around the couch in the living room. I met her on the other side of the island, and without hesitation, she pulled me into her arms.
“Hi.” I hugged her back.
“Hi.” She squeezed tighter. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m good.”
She let me go and did a thorough inspection of my face, her fingers brushing over the gash that had healed into just a small pink scar.
“See? I’m okay.”
“I’ve been so worried. And I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” I smiled at my friend and then turned to Maisy with another wave. “Hey. Sorry to scare you.”
The shock on Maisy’s face had disappeared and she finally let go of the death grip she had on Coby’s hand. “It’s okay. I’m just glad it’s you.”
“What are you doing here?” Felicity asked.
“Well, I’m supposed to be here hiding out. But so far you guys and Jess have discovered me and I’ve been here for less than twelve hours.”
“But why? Why aren’t you at the outpost?”
Before I could answer Felicity’s question, Coby yelled, “Me-me!”
Abandoning Maisy’s side, he ran to Boone’s bed and pulled out a small blue blanket from underneath.
“Oh, thank god we found it,” Maisy sighed. “He had a complete meltdown last night when we couldn’t find that blanket and then wouldn’t sleep in his own bed. There is no such thing as sleeping when a two-year-old’s foot is in your side. I’m exhausted.”
“Then I’m glad you found it.”
“Great, we’ve got the blanket,” Felicity huffed. “Now tell me, what is going on?”
“Coby, no!” Maisy shouted before I could answer. We all whirled around to see Coby dragging his “me-me” through the water I’d spilled on the floor.
“Shoot!” I rushed to grab a towel, mopping up my puddle before Coby got soaking wet. “Sorry.” I picked up my bucket and sponge, then wrung out the sopping towel in the sink.
“It’s no problem,” Maisy said, pulling Coby away from the water. “He’s just obsessed with water puddles. It’s our fault for barging in. Honestly, I thought Beau would be gone again this weekend.”
“We just got here last night.”
“I’m going to ask this again and hope this time I get an answer.” Felicity’s voice was getting louder. “Why are you here? Why would you leave the outpost? Is it really safe for you to be in town? Did something happen? Can I get some answers here please before I completely panic?”
“I’m fine, so calm down. Nothing happened. Beau just didn’t think the outpost was a great spot for me with winter coming.”
“Oh,” she breathed and the tension in her shoulders vanished. “Okay, good thinking.”
“Mama! Chaca milk.” Coby tugged on Maisy’s purse.
She reached in and handed him a sippy cup of chocolate milk, then set her bag on the counter. “Give me one minute. I want to hear this story. Let me get Coby set up with a cartoon and then we can talk.”
Maisy led Coby to the living room and Felicity started drumming her fingers on the island.
“Do you want some coffee?”
“Yes.” I turned to get her a mug but she stopped me. “No. Never mind.”
“Um, okay.” My friend had never once turned down coffee. “Are you feeling all right?” Her face was a little pale. I would have chalked that up to the shock of seeing me but surprise didn’t explain the dark circles and bags under her eyes.
“Not really.” Felicity shook her head. “And I can’t have coffee right now.”
“Because . . .” I searched her face for an answer.
She gave me wider eyes.
“Is that supposed to mean something? Because I’ve kind of been trapped in the middle of nowhere for a while now and I’m out of the loop.”
Felicity frowned and leaned in closer to whisper. “I can’t have coffee and I feel like shit because I’m pregnant.”
“What!” I shouted then clapped a hand over my mouth.
“Shh,” she hissed and looked over her shoulder at Maisy and Coby in the living room. “We’re not telling people yet.”
I dropped my hand and smiled. “But you told me?”
“You’re an exception. I blame it on the shock of seeing you pop up behind Beau’s counter.”
I smiled wider and wrapped my arms around her waist. “I’m happy for you, lady.”
“I’m happy for me too.”
We broke apart and I couldn’t help but grin. “Are you excited?”
“Yeah. A little scared too but I think that’s to be expected.”
“You have nothing to worry about. You’ll be a wonderful mother.”
“Thanks.” She smiled. “I hope you’re still here when he or she is born.”
“If not, I’ll be back to visit and spoil that baby rotten.” I had new motivation to stay out of witness protection. I wanted to see Felicity’s baby at least once.
“Okay. He’s settled for a little while.” Maisy came back into the kitchen. “So? How are you? Beau said all of your injuries healed okay?”
I nodded. “I’m all better. My ribs took the longest to heal but I’m back to a hundred percent.”
She patted my hand. “Good.”
Maisy moved through the kitchen with ease, filling a coffee cup for herself and getting a small bowl of goldfish crackers to deliver to Coby, who was sprawled on his uncle’s couch. He’d traded his wet blanket for one of Beau’s throws and curled up with a stuffed animal he’d found in the ottoman. Probably something he’d stashed during one of his countless visits to Beau’s house.
“Okay. He’s set.” Maisy came back and pulled out a stool from beneath the island. Felicity settled into the other stool and both stared at me, waiting for an explanation.
I grabbed my own coffee and leaned a hip against the island to start explaining. “So, like I said, Beau didn’t want me at the outpost this winter.”
“I get that,” Felicity said, “but when you showed up months ago, everyone said town was out. Is it really safe to come back?”
Beau’s idea that I could just lay low had made sense earlier, but with Maisy and Felicity now aware of my presence, I was starting to think this move was just courting trouble. How many other family members had keys to Beau’s house? Would his neighbors start to wonder why his lights were on all day if he was at work? Would someone see me through the windows?
As much as I wanted to stay with Beau, was this really safe?
“I thought it would be okay, but now I’m not so sure.”
“I don’t know where else you’d go,” Maisy said. “Beau’s right, the mountains in the winter would be dangerous. This will just have to work until spring.”
“Or until things with the Federovs get wrapped up. Have you heard anything from the FBI?” Felicity asked.
“FBI?” Maisy asked. “Have they been in contact?”
I nodded. “The agent I sent my evidence to tracked me down. I met with him about a month ago.”
“What did he want?” she asked.
“He wanted me to go into witness protection but we convinced him to let me stay at the outpost until we knew more about what was happening with the case.”
“Ah, gotcha.” Maisy nodded. “Did he tell you anything? Did he give you a timeline for how long it would take to put them away?”
I shook my head. “Not really. And since the case isn’t new anymore, there hasn’t been much in the headlines lately. I’m pretty much in the dark.”
I wasn’t sure if it was better or worse to have internet access every day. At the outpost, it had been easier to push my worries about the Federovs aside because I had no way of tracking the FBI’s case. But now, I found myself refreshing The Seattle Time’s website every thirty minutes.
“No news is probably good news,” Felicity said.
“I hope so.”
“Well, Maisy’s right. There’s nothing we can do about this now. You’re here so at least we can catch up today. Tell us everything. I want to know what happened at the outpost.”
Maisy smiled into her coffee mug. “And I’d like to know what is going on with you and my brother.”
“What?” Felicity’s eyes snapped to mine. “You and Beau?”
I blushed and looked to my coffee. “Yeah. Me and Beau.”
“For how long?”
“A couple months.”
“All right. Then hurry up and give us the outpost recap first. Then get to the good stuff.”
I smiled and laughed with my friend. We spent the next thirty minutes talking through everything that had happened at the outpost. I told them all about my journey into writing. About Dylan and the hotshot crew. And about my meeting with Henry Dalton.
“I’m so glad you didn’t go into witness protection,” Maisy said.
“Me too.” Though, I still thought staying in Montana was just delaying the inevitable. Regardless, I was glad he hadn’t come back to collect me. That had to be a sign that things with the Federovs were progressing, right?
“Wait a minute.” Felicity frowned and counted out a couple of fingers. “Were you and Beau together when Silas came up to the outpost and brought you down to meet with Henry?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
She threw her hands in the air. “And he didn’t tell me anything! Silas is in trouble.” She pointed at my nose. “And so are you. This is all information you should have been sending in your letters.”
I winced and scrunched up my face. “Sorry?” My letters had been so focused on wedding details, I’d left out the details of my budding relationship.
“You’re forgiven, but only if you give us all the details now. What’s going on with you two?”
Felicity and Maisy both leaned further into the island, anxious for me to share the juicy gossip.
I shrugged. “We’re temporary, I guess. I don’t know how else to describe it. Our circumstances are completely insane, but no matter what, I’m really glad I’ve gotten the chance to know him. We’ll just have to see what develops.”
“Would you ever consider staying?” Felicity asked.
Beau and I had only ever talked about parting ways eventually, but what if we didn’t have to? I wanted to keep seeing him and I think he wanted that too. Excitement at the possibility bubbled up in my chest.
“Yes. If it was safe, I’d stay.”
“Yay!” Maisy cheered at the same time I said, “But.”
Her hands came down from above her head. “Uh-oh.”
“You don’t want to get your hopes up.” Felicity voiced my fears.
I nodded. “I’m still in trouble. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to have a normal life. If I’ll ever be free. I’d love to stay here with Beau, but not if I’m in danger. There’s a very real chance I’ll be going into witness protection and never get to see him again.”
“That sucks,” Maisy muttered.
I rounded the island and took a seat on the last stool. “Yeah. It sucks. But Beau and I have always gone into this with clear expectations. We’re enjoying the time we have, for as long as it lasts. Let’s do the same. Tell me everything about the wedding.”
“The wedding? No. I want to hear more about you and Beau.”
“Please?” I begged. “There isn’t much more to tell and I really want to hear about the wedding. Just because you know I’m here doesn’t mean I’m going to get to see you often. So let’s use this afternoon as a chance to catch up because I don’t know if it’s going to happen again.”
She sighed and nodded. “Okay.”
“I’ve got lots of pictures on my phone.” Maisy jumped up from her stool to dig through her purse.
“Good. Beau took lots of pictures and videos, but I want to see more. He didn’t get a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff.”
And I wanted to hear everything straight from Felicity’s mouth. If I could see her face light up as she described her dress or how the cake tasted, then maybe I wouldn’t feel so sad about missing my best friend’s wedding day. The Federov story had taken that away from me too. And though I was sad, I wasn’t sorry. Beau had helped me see that everything I’d done—all I’d lost and would miss out on—had been worth it to take them down.
So for the next hour, I swiped through hundreds of wedding pictures and listened to countless stories about Felicity and Silas’s day. There was something magical about being surrounded by these women, listening to them recount every detail of the wedding, because after that hour, I didn’t feel like I’d missed the wedding entirely after all.
Coby got bored with his cartoons not long after that and Maisy decided it best to take him home. So I hugged her good-bye and ruffled Coby’s hair before they went outside to get buckled into the car.
“Thanks for showing me pictures,” I told Felicity as I walked her to the door.
“We could have pushed the wedding back, you know.”
“I know, but I didn’t want that. It could be years until my drama blows over, if ever.”
“Don’t say things like that,” she chided. “This could all work out.”
“You’re right.” I pulled her into my arms. “It could.”
Or it couldn’t.
I didn’t voice that last bit. I’d let my friend keep hoping that this would all turn out for the best.
And maybe she’d be right.
“Take care of yourself, okay? And that baby.”
She squeezed me once more, then let me go. “Promise. You take care too.”
“Love you, lady.”
“Love you too.” With a sad wave, she walked out the door, closing it behind her so I wouldn’t be seen standing by the window.
As I watched Felicity get into the passenger seat and Maisy pull away from the curb, Beau’s truck appeared and pulled into the driveway.
I heard the garage door roll open and I walked back to the kitchen to greet him as he came inside.
The smile on my face fell when the door opened.
Beau was home, and he was not happy.