I was busy mulling things over in my morning coffee, which had gone tepid from lack of consumption, when I peered up and saw the object of my current frustration.

Dishevelled, dark circles under her eyes, worry lines framing that luscious mouth of hers, Emberlyn never looked more beautiful than right then.

Three hours spent worrying that I’d pushed her to run, despite my intent being the opposite.

One hundred and eighty minutes spent thinking that I’d never see her again.

Ten-thousand-eight-hundred seconds of not knowing where she had disappeared off to; never responding to any of my calls, messages, or anyone else I’d set on her.

All those facts had me feeling antsy to the point I made to get to my feet.

Emberlyn lifted a hand. “Don’t.” She swallowed hard. “Just let me get this out.”

Settling into my chair, I gave her a curt chin lift, hoping my face, my eyes wouldn’t betray the portrayal of hardness I hoped she was seeing.

“First, I’d like to say that I’m sorry,” she began. “I was stupid to run off like I did. I was stupid to have gone to the cottage to get more supplies when I’d already promised that I would wait.” She hiccupped, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “What I’m most sorry about is the fact that I not only knowingly put myself in danger, but I left your daughter open to that same danger.” The bag slung over her shoulder, along with her purse, dropped hard to the floor before she fisted her hair and let out a frustrating cry. “Goddammit, Shane! What if she’d been right there with me? What if I’d brought her along?” She began to pace, her breathing having grown heavy. “I’m so fucking stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”

I croaked out, “Em.”

“No!” She turned her tearstained face my way, her skin blotchy and red. “Is this the kind of person you want around your family? God! I don’t know the first thing about being a responsible caregiver. Fuck, I’m still learning how to be in control of my own fucking life!”

“Emberlyn.” I got up but didn’t make a move toward the woman, all too busy with her tirade.

“I’m useless. It’s why I wanted to leave. It’s why I left, Shane,” she whispered, her bottom lip quivering, indicating that her tears were far from done. “But you see? There are some things that I’m good at, and that’s why I came back. Once I’m done helping you out, then I’ll be out of your hair.” She bit her bottom lip. “I promised Rosie that I’d always be her friend.” Her eyes met mine with fierceness. “I’m not breaking that promise, Shane. I swear. But where you and I are concerned–”

That’s when I lunged around the kitchen table and grasped her elbows tightly. “Don’t you stand there and tell me what will or won’t happen, Emberlyn Roth,” I growled. “Don’t you dare promise my daughter something that means everything to her, yet deny me—us—the same courtesy. How can you be so sure of one and not the other, when Rosie and I are a package deal?” Her eyes rounded at my words. “That’s right, Em. It’s not just Rosie or just me. It’s the both of us. So if you can stand there and say that you’ll maintain your friendship with my daughter, I can’t let that happen unless I’m in the picture.”

She ripped herself from my grasp. “So that’s it? It’s you and her or nothing?” Her laugh held all the sarcasm her next words accompanied. “I never once thought you’d play a game so low, Shane. Throwing away a promise that you made me, little under a week ago, that no matter what happened between us, I’d never lose that daughter of yours. A beautiful girl I’ve grown to…to…”

“She loves her, son. Don’t do this,” Nora interrupted our discussion.

“Mom, stay out of this,” I growled, pressing my thumb and forefinger against the bridge of my nose.

“This isn’t the way to hold on to something you think you’re losing,” the older woman pointed out.

My body lost its rigidity, in its stead, defeat made me struggle to keep my legs beneath me. Looking up, my gaze met and held Emberlyn’s and I just knew that this was going nowhere. Swallowing that ever-growing lump in my throat, I hoarsed out, “It doesn’t matter, Mom, I already lost her. I’m willing to give her safety. Safety she’s clearly taking because she’s back here. She wants to help me solve the case. It doesn’t matter that she’s the first person since Eva that I am able to see myself with, and be happy. Am I right, Emberlyn?” The last was spat as if it reality left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“W-what?” Emberlyn whispered.

“You heard me,” I said, all too frustrated. Was she trying to gut me where I stood? “I’m fucking falling in love with you and you can’t even see it? Why do you think I lose my head when you go off and do something you damn well know you shouldn’t? Why do you think I fought so fucking hard to have you here with us, instead of with Dalton or one of the other guys? Because I fucking care, all right? I care for you, dammit! I fucking fought my growing curiosity about you, until I couldn’t take it anymore, after what my mother and daughter kept saying about you. I just had to know you. But I don’t know you at all, do I? I–”

One second I was looking at a woman, whose face was buried between her palms, her head shaking from right to left, and the next, she’d knocked me clean onto my ass as she clung to me as though her life depended on it, her lips fused to mine.

I ripped my mouth from hers. “Em…”

Dainty fingers covered my lips to cease my words. “Shh.” She peeled them back to deliver a soft peck, then replaced them. “I can see it, Shane. I can hear you loud and clear.” She punctuated each sentence with hard, but all too brief, kisses before flooring me altogether. “And I’ve fallen. I-I’m still falling.” Her eyes strayed to the side of my face. “But I’m fucking terrified.”

My heart warmed, I felt powerful with just her words alone. I’d gotten through to her. Finally.

Cupping the side of her face, I brought her gaze back to mine, noticing my mother sneaking out of the kitchen to give us a moment.

About time.

“I’m terrified too, sweetheart. I’m terrified of losing my daughter…of losing my mom. I never thought I’d find something like this—us—ever again, so yeah…I’m fucking terrified of losing you too. But I can’t live a life based on fear. And neither should you.”

“That’s a lot harder to do, Shane,” she whispered.

“And that’s why we should stick together,” I said, offering her a soft smile, which she returned.

“Your daughter said something along those lines just yesterday, as a matter of fact.”

“She did, did she?”

Emberlyn nodded. “She said I should stay because we were stronger as a team than when we’re on our own.”

“Bloody smart kid, that one,” I chuckled.

She snorted. “A regular chip off her father’s block, more like.” Her face grew serious but she stayed silent.

“Em, what’s the matter?”

On a sigh, she dropped her forehead to mine and closed her eyes. “I wish I could keep this light feeling going, but I’m exhausted, and I need to talk to you before we go into the station, so I can give my report about the attack.”

My own eyes closed as I took a deep breath.

I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to enjoy any of what I was about to hear.

“What did he mean by, ‘You’re not her’?” she asked.

Emberlyn had just finished giving me the rundown on what her attacker had told her. It had been a huge point of contention in her decision to leave me in the dead of the night.

Still fuming, I growled, “He means Eva.”

“Your wife?” I nodded. “Of course I’m not her.”

“No, you’re not,” I bit out, “but it won’t stop him from doing anything to get back at me.” This just proved that the man was psychotic enough to stoop to any level to get back at me. For what, who the fuck knows; but I suspected jealousy.

The room was filled with silence for a few minutes before Emberlyn broke it.

“Shane?”

“Yeah,” I sighed, rubbing the mounting stress off of my face before looking at her.

“I haven’t been to the range since before I moved here. Do you think you could take me shooting sometime soon?”

If I couldn’t let off steam by doing something physical, the range was usually where I found myself. It was as if she’d read me; or maybe she was finally coming to terms that running wouldn’t be an option, but practicing with her weapon—a proactive stance—would provide her with the strength and added security she suddenly found herself lacking.

“Go,” Mom interrupted us. “I’ll look after Rosie.”

“But we have that appointment at the station,” Emberlyn stated.

“We can go before that. It shouldn’t take us too long.”

On a single nod, Emberlyn got to her feet. “Let me get changed, then we can head over to mine to collect my weapon.”

You mean she didn’t even have the fucking thing on her when she ran off? What the fuck was she thinking?