“I decided it was a good idea when he went for my gun, saying he wanted to be with Christine.”
“Jesus,” I whispered. “He needs help.”
Garrett nodded. “And I intend to get him help, but he’s done as a cop. I can’t have someone I don’t trust on the force.”
“Of course not. It’s just… I mean, how the hell did it come to this?” Had I failed both my wife and my best friend? What should I have done differently so that she wasn’t dead by her own hand and he wasn’t sitting handcuffed in a car with his head hanging down in defeat?
“Stop it.”
I jerked my gaze to Garrett’s. “What?”
“Stop blaming yourself. Life is nothing more than a series of choices. You do this and your day is better for it. You do that and it all falls down on your head.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “They both did that when they should have done this. You played no part in their choices, Dylan. You get what I’m saying?”
“I’m trying to.” I knew he was speaking the truth, but believing I hadn’t somehow played a part in this tragedy would take some work. “Can I talk to him?” Even after everything that had gone down, I still missed the friend I’d once had.
“No. He won’t hear you. Right now the only thing he hears is the voice in his head that says you kept him from the woman he loves. Maybe someday he’ll be in a place where he can listen, but that day isn’t now.”
The half glass of vodka and cranberry juice I’d drunk curled into a sour ball in my stomach. “No, I guess not. Listen, call me when you get back to Chicago, let me know you’re okay.”
Garrett blew me a kiss, making me laugh. “Worried about me, Cupcake?”
“Not really. You’re one mean sonofabitch. Call me anyway.”
He opened the car door. “I’ll do that.” I didn’t miss his worried glance at Jack. “I’m going to drive straight through.”
I was glad to hear that. “Come back on a vacation with Derrick. We’ll hang out and drink ourselves stupid, and I’ll tell you the story of Beauregard the Bull.”
“I’ll definitely come back for a bull story.”
He grabbed me, pulling me into a tight hug, slapping his hand on my back. There was no other man I respected more than this one, and seeing him again made me wonder if I’d made the right decision to leave the Chicago Police Department. But I was happy in Blue Ridge Valley, more than I’d thought I’d be.
I loved my cops and their wide eyes when I’d done something special for them. I loved Mary with her ever-changing outlandish hair and eye shadow colors, loved that I had to worry about an outrageous moonshiner deciding to sell his goods again instead of giving them away. That apple pie flavor Jenny had given me to taste had been crazy good.
“Love ya, man,” I said, my voice gruff with emotion.
Garrett laughed as he let go of me. “I know.”
I snorted. “Asshole.”
He slipped onto the driver’s seat, grinning up at me as he lowered the window. “Go back to your lady. If you let her slip out of your hands, then you’re not the man I thought you were.”
“Drive safe.” He gave me a salute, and I watched the car until the taillights disappeared. As for the girl, I would let her slip out of my hands. But not tonight. Tonight she was mine.
35
~ Jenny ~
“Come here, Jenny.”
I eyed Dylan from across the room. He’d been quiet ever since we’d finished dinner and left the restaurant. Quiet but vibrating with energy… or maybe tension? I wasn’t sure.
At every opportunity tonight, he’d touched me. A hand on my leg at dinner, his fingers brushing my back as we’d walked out of the restaurant, playing with my hair on the way back to his place. I’d also caught him watching me, his eyes dark and hungry. My girl parts were humming so loud it was amazing he couldn’t hear their mating song.
For some reason, though, I felt like playing hard to get. So I turned my back on him, got a glass from the cabinet, and filled it with ice and water.
“Jenny.”
“Mmm?” I didn’t turn around.
