“We’ll talk about it later, then,” Maya said, squeezing his hand this time. “But for the record, I agree with Pops—you’d be a great sheriff.”
“Then let’s all get back to eating and celebrating,” Pops said.
Josh smiled. He was happy, and even though he knew it was possible to have other things from his past come back to haunt him, he knew now that he didn’t have to face those demons alone.
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
Later that day, Maya and Josh took the dogs out to her property to let them burn off some energy in the newly fallen snow. The storm had left about eighteen inches and then moved out.
Josh pulled out some blueprints he’d picked up from their builder when he had gone to court. They were for their new house, and Maya couldn’t wait for the contractors to break ground. As soon as the weather improved, they were going to start in. The architect had included the original stone chimney in the plans, which made Maya happy. It made it feel like an original part of the cabin would always remain. A reminder of the good parts of the past.
“I wish I had their energy,” Josh said, watching the dogs run laps.
Maya laughed. “I knew Finn was going to be full of it since he didn’t work, but I wasn’t expecting this much energy out of Juniper.”
“You should know better.”
“I should. Okay, let’s look at these plans,” Maya said.
They unrolled the sheets and Maya imagined what the cabin would look like. Not her cabin anymore, but their cabin. They’d decided on a wraparound porch and adding on some rooms for visitors or even, down the road, kids. Josh had mentioned this, gauging her reaction. Maya didn’t know what to say. She’d never imagined wanting to be a mother, but she also had never imagined finding one person she wanted to be with. She wasn’t sure, but she had finally agreed that having extra rooms was good.
They were talking through other ideas when she heard a car pull up. The dogs heard it too and started barking. Maya called Juniper and Josh called Finn. They put leashes on both. The car parked and Elena stepped out. Maya almost didn’t recognize her cleaned up.
“Hi,” Elena said, on the shy side. “I hope it was okay to stop by. I’m getting ready to drive to Denver and go home.”
“No, I’m glad you stopped in,” Maya said.
“Me too,” Josh said.
“I just wanted to thank you for everything you did to help me,” Elena said. “I don’t know that I would have made it without you.”
“I feel like I should be thanking you too,” Josh said. “You helped me put some of my past behind me. What’s next in this case on your end?”
“I’ve talked with my boss. We’ve made a deal with Ref to testify in the other case but get out on parole. He’s served his time, and we have a great work-release program that I’ve nominated him for. He can help kids who are getting into gangs. He’s perfect for it.”
“Sounds like he’s really turned his life around,” Josh said.
“I feel like he has. Of course, it’s all up to him. And I’ll be helping with the prosecution of each of the Bradfords for their involvement in Sydney’s death. I’m glad she can finally have justice. I’ll also be helping with the indictment for Amber’s death and their attempt on my life, among other things. There’s a laundry list of charges we need to sort through.”
“Chicago is lucky to have you,” Maya said. “But if you ever decide to move to Colorado, keep our county in mind.”
“I think I’ve seen enough of Colorado,” Elena said with a chuckle. “But I’ll let you know if I need a change of scenery. When I was first out in the mountains, I was scared to death, but I found an inner strength I didn’t know I had.”
“Keep in touch, okay?” Josh said.
“You got it. I better get going so I don’t miss my plane.” Elena gave a wave as she climbed in her car.
They waved to her as she left. Maya turned to Josh and held his hands. “I need to talk to you about something.”
“Anything,” Josh said.
Maya took one hand and pulled a note out of her pocket. “Eric left this for me. I found it taped to the back door this morning.”
“He’s getting braver,” Josh said. “He doesn’t know when Juniper might be out. He’s lucky to not have her hanging off his arm.”
“I agree, but we also know that my father is smart, and maybe I inherited some of my impulsiveness from him.”
“You? Impulsive?” Josh said in a teasing tone.
