Chapter Twenty-Five
Kaylee leaned heavily on Reed’s arm as he helped her into the front door of Ava and Logan’s home in a quiet suburb outside of Seattle. The location was ideal for her long recovery – close to hospitals and doctors but not smack dab in the middle of the bustling city.
Ava hovered nearby, her arms outstretched in case Kaylee decided to do a somersault or something crazy like that. “We can set you up in the guest bedroom or in the living room on the recliner. Are you thirsty? I can get you some food. Or hungry? I can fix something.”
Colt and Brianna were looking at their mother as if she’d lost her marbles babbling that way. Kaylee, for her part, thought that her friend was being very sweet if a tad too overwrought.
“I think I’d like to sit in the living room if you don’t mind. I’ve been lying down far too much these last few weeks.”
Although the hospital hadn’t coddled Kaylee for long. As soon as they could, they’d had her up and walking the halls of the hospital even when she still had her IV in. She hadn’t been too happy about it, either. It had taken so much effort to take even a few steps that she’d be exhausted and hurting for a long time afterward. Her new reality was that every little action took effort and would for awhile longer. The doctors said she was healing quickly but it was still going to take some time before she was one hundred percent.
Her husband’s strong arms helped lower her slowly into the soft leather chair. A sheen of sweat had popped out on her upper lip and the back of her neck and her abdomen was sore. It had been a long drive from the rural hospital she’d been in originally to Seattle. Reed had made her as comfortable as he could, but she hurt and needed a couple of ibuprofen. The pillow that had become a much-needed accessory was placed on her stomach. She used it when she needed to cough, sneeze, or even just turn over in bed. Reed had dubbed it her teddy bear. Today she’d used it as a buffer between herself and the seatbelt.
Hovering. Everyone hovered around her as she was going to explode into a million little pieces at any moment.
Heck, maybe I will and the doctors just didn’t warn me.
Dropping a kiss on her forehead before straightening, Reed turned to help Logan with the luggage.
“Do you need anything?” Ava asked again, anxiety in her voice. “Anything at all?”
“Just to sit and relax a bit. Why don’t you sit down, too?”
“Easy, baby,” Reed said, reaching down for the lever on the side of the recliner. “I’m going to help you stretch out a little, okay?”
Kaylee nodded gratefully and almost sighed audibly in relief as her legs were lifted and her torso angled back. Being folded up was the worst thing for her surgery incision but every day she was getting better. It hadn’t hurt that this handsome son of a gun had been there by her side twenty-four-seven. He’d been her rock and she’d clung to him. Funny how now she could hardly believe that she’d doubted his love or commitment. He’d shown it in so many ways these last few weeks.
The living room and kitchen were one big room and the island was covered with flowers and plants, balloons, and actual teddy bears, not just soft pillows. Ava followed Kaylee’s gaze and smiled.
“Those are all for you. The pink roses are from Griffin and Jazz, the potted plant with the teddy bear is from Tanner and Madison, the bright purple flower arrangement is from Dare and Rayne, the flower basket is from Seth and Presley, the chocolates are from Evan and Josie, the stack of DVDs are from Jared and Misty, and the refrigerator is stacked with food courtesy of Jason and Brinley. They had a restaurant deliver all sorts of amazing-looking dishes so if you’re hungry you only have to say something and we can warm it up.”
Kaylee’s throat had tightened with emotion and tears pricked the backs of her eyes. “I’m…overwhelmed.”
“We love you,” Ava said softly, her own eyes looking bright. “And Colt and Brianna have something for you, too.”
The twins were still looking at their mother oddly. They probably didn’t get all the emotion that was zipping around the room. They’d been safely ensconced in Florida having a great time at the beach and then later with their parents at Disney. To them this had been a grand adventure they could tell their friends about.
Brianna was the first to approach Kaylee. “We drew you pictures. This is you at the beach. Colt drew you with Mickey ears.”
Colt scowled at his sister. “I was gonna tell her that.”
Brianna pointed to Colt’s drawing. “She can see it. You made the ears bigger than her head.”
Indeed, the hat was at least twice the size of Kaylee’s head and took up most of the paper.
“I think these are wonderful.” Her words came out choked. Her heart was so full today. Full of love and gratitude. “Thank you so much. I’m going to hang these by my bed. They’ll help me get better faster.”
“When you get better you can go to the beach. It was so much fun. We made sandcastles with Josie,” Brianna said. “Colt found a hermit crab in the sand.”
Colt nodded. “Josie said we had to leave it there because he might have a family that would miss him.”
“She’s right,” Kaylee agreed, blinking rapidly to stop her tears from falling. She was sick and tired of crying, especially when she had so much to be happy about. “They would miss him.”
“Why don’t you two go watch some cartoons?” Ava suggested. “We’ll have dinner in a little while.”
“Yes!” Colt yelled, raising his arms in triumph before zipping up the stairs. Brianna was right behind him. “Excellent.”
“We don’t let them watch a lot of television,” Logan explained with a chuckle. “So they’re excited.”
Ava sighed and sat down on the couch. “Let me amend my husband’s statement. We try to not let them watch too much television. Sometimes we’re exhausted parents and it happens.”
Reed sat down on the ottoman next to Kaylee, her hand still in his. It felt safe and warm and she never wanted to be without this man. She loved him so much. As happened so often, she was captured by his good looks. Her gaze wandered over his wide shoulders, his strong chin, and square jaw. His dark hair, shot with gray, badly needed a trim and the wind outside had tousled it a little. And those hazel eyes. Soft and full of love.
Shit, they were looking at her right now. She’d been totally busted staring at him.
From the smile on his face, he didn’t seem to mind.
Kaylee dragged her attention from her amazing husband back to Ava. “Should we tell them our news now?”
“I think we should.”
Logan and Reed were both frowning, glancing back and forth between their wives, clearly perplexed.
“I have to say that I’m curious,” Reed said. “We’re had a great deal of news lately.”
They certainly had. Four days into Kaylee’s recovery, Reed had received a phone call from the town council that employed him as sheriff.
He was fired.
The new mayor had taken office and fired the entire law enforcement staff, Reed and all of his deputies, and installed his own people. Small town politics could be cutthroat. Reed would be paid out a severance as required by his contract, plus all of his accrued vacation and sick time. He would have plenty of time to find another job.
“Ava and I are going to write a book together. A series of books, actually,” Kaylee announced with a grin. She was excited about the future. She and Reed had talked about finding new dreams and this was one of them. “True crime, specifically cold cases.”
Logan’s brow arched as his gaze bounced between his wife and Kaylee. “You’re going to write about it or you’re going to try and solve the cases?”
Ava shrugged. “Maybe a little bit of both.”
“This might be time for my news then,” Logan said, rubbing his chin. “Jason is staring a new division of the consulting firm and I’m going to head it up.”
Ava squealed and wrapped him in a hug. “That’s wonderful. Wait…this is a desk job, right? You’re not going back into the field, are you?”
“This is a desk job,” Logan confirmed, dropping a kiss on her lips. “But I need a second in command to help me.”
Logan looked at Reed whose face was turning red. “What Logan is trying to say is that he’s asked me to join the consulting firm. Work with him in this new division, building it from the ground up. And yes, it’s a desk job. Before you say anything, I haven’t made a decision. I wanted to talk to you about it, baby.”
Kaylee searched her husband’s expression for a clue as to how he felt, what he wanted. Damn his poker face. He wasn’t giving anything away.
“What do you want to do?” she finally asked. He needed new dreams, too.
“I think,” he replied slowly. “That I’d like to do it, but we need to talk about this. It would mean selling our house, moving here to be closer to the office. It might mean some long days and weekends getting things going. We need to build a brand-new team of people.”
Ava was practically jumping up and down on the couch at the news. Kaylee wasn’t exactly against the idea of being closer to her best friend and she wasn’t feeling all that kindly about a town that had just summarily dismissed her husband. Jobs weren’t easy to find there either, so moving had probably been a foregone conclusion.
“Say yes, say yes,” Ava chanted, a gigantic grin on her face. “Please say yes.”
Kaylee reached over and placed both her hands in his, their gazes locked. “If this is what you want to do, then I’m in complete support.”
“Yes!”
For a moment, Ava looked exactly like Colt when he had permission to watch cartoons out of the blue.
“Ava and Kaylee, together again,” Logan laughed. “Someone needs to alert the media. This might be dangerous.”
“Hey, watch what you’re saying about my sister.” Ava elbowed her husband playfully. “You and Reed together could be just as crazy.”
Sister. Yes, Ava was the sister that Kaylee had never had.
Shit, I’m going to cry again. Someone make it stop. I’m just so darn grateful. This almost didn’t happen.
“What can you tell us about this new division?” Ava asked much later. They’d finished dinner, cleaned up the dishes, put the twins to bed, and were now relaxing with full bellies. Actually, she’d just watched most of that from her perch on the recliner whle the others bustled around her. Kaylee made a mental note to send an effusive thank you card to Jason and Brinley. The food had been fantastic and it was even better that Ava didn’t have to spend all evening in the kitchen preparing it. “What sort of consulting will you be doing?”
Reed and Logan exchanged a quick glance that immediately had Kaylee’s attention.
“Did I ask a loaded question?”
Because it sure looked like it.
“We’re going to run the serials and stalkers division,” Reed finally answered. “You could say that Logan and I have some expertise there.”
They certainly did. More than most.
“Serials and stalkers,” Ava repeated, nodding her head. “That sounds right up your alley. Maybe you’ll get a few cold cases and we can write about them.”
Logan was already shaking his head and looking damn worried. “Absolutely not, woman. You – both of you – are not ever going to be in danger again. I’m putting my foot down about this. The man of the house has spoken.”
Kaylee had to press the pillow to her stomach because laughing still hurt a little. Reed hadn’t said anything but he looked just as concerned as Logan, maybe more.
“We wouldn’t dream of getting in the middle of your investigation,” Kaylee assured them. “We’d just write about it. Right, Ava?”
“Right,” her friend agreed. “Completely out of the line of fire. We’re going to keep to being authors.”
Logan groaned and scraped his hand down his face. “Do you believe them?”
“Nope,” Reed replied, rubbing at his temple where a headache was surely blooming. “Not a word.”
Leaning over, Kaylee pressed a kiss to his stubbly cheek. “New dreams, remember?”
“New dreams,” he agreed, turning so he could whisper in her ear. His words only for her. “But let’s keep them non-lethal. I want the most exciting thing we do to be in the bedroom.”
He was far too modest. A lifetime with Reed wasn’t going to be boring in the least. But if it did get a little mundane, they knew what to do.
Get new dreams.
I hope you enjoyed revisiting Reed, Kaylee, Logan and Ava! There’s much more to come in the Cowboy Justice Association World. Thank you for reading Seeking Justice!
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