Then Mo blew out a sharp whistle, and everyone went quiet.
“There’s more.” He gave Bronwyn’s hand a squeeze. “Again, I’m not done digging, but if I had to take what I currently have to court, I would have no choice but to testify that the person behind the blackmail and potential jury tampering was Bronwyn.”
No one spoke for a long second. And then everyone spoke at once.
Mo leaned back and pulled Bronwyn with him. “I’m sorry,” he murmured in her ear. “I wanted to get to the bottom of it before we had to tell them anything.”
“It’s okay.” She rested her head on his chest and waited for the tumult to die down.
She couldn’t make out much of what they were saying, but the general sense of outrage and disbelief comforted her battered spirit. As did the arm around her and the hand holding hers.
She wasn’t alone. She didn’t have to fight this alone.
And they believed in her.
Thirty-Three
Mo went to bed that night in his own house and without looking at a computer screen. As much as he was itching to dig deeper into Bob and Peter Brown and the corruption and blackmail at The Haven, his body screamed for sleep. His head hurt. His eyes hurt. His entire body ached.
His heart, however, was ... not hurting, but it was not content either.
Bronwyn was staying with Meredith tonight. And they were close enough for him not to worry about her safety as they slept.
But he had so many other things to worry about.
He’d long ago given up on any true resolution with Bronwyn. On the rare occasions he allowed himself to think about it with any kind of hope, he assumed it would be months, maybe even years, before they found any kind of equilibrium. He’d been prepared for weeks of awkward interactions, stilted conversations, and ultimately, a lifetime of regret.
But she’d kissed him. And he’d kissed her.
Everyone was treating them like a couple.
But he had no idea what they were.
Before he went horizontal, he knelt by his bed. “Lord, I gotnothing. No clue. Really?” He stayed there until he realized he’d nodded off. “Sorry about that, Lord. Where was I? Oh yeah. I can’t do this. I want her. And I’m terrified of her. Or of what she could do to me.”
He slid under the quilt without more words. His faith had taken a nosedive in the years after Bronwyn’s departure. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in God anymore. But he’d felt betrayed by both him and Bronwyn, and the journey back to a place where he could trust God with much of anything had been a long one.
Over the past few years, he’d seen things he simply couldn’t attribute to anything other than God’s hand. And now he had no trouble laying his burdens before God, leaving them there, and going to sleep. He and God both knew he’d do his best to pick them up and carry them for himself in the morning.
What he hadn’t expected was for the morning not to come until 11:30 a.m.
He woke up slowly, and when he reached for the phone by his bedside and saw the time, he dropped it on his chest and groaned.
Then he took stock. His body still hurt, but the headache was gone. His mind was clearer than it had been in days. And once he got some coffee in him, he expected he’d be able to tackle the computer searches he desperately needed to finish.
His need to clear Bronwyn’s name, protect her from her family, and stake some kind of claim that would let everyone know that she was his all swirled through him and drove him to roll out of bed and rush through his morning routine far faster than he normally would.
The sun was shining, the air was warm, and Bronwyn sat on Meredith’s small front porch. She wore a tank top and shorts, her wet hair was twisted into a messy bun, and her bare feet were propped up on the railing. As he walked toward her, he could seethat she had a coffee in hand, eyes closed, and a makeup-free face lifted to the sun.
She must have heard him when he walked outside, but she didn’t so much as twitch when he stepped onto the porch. But when he stopped in front of her, blocking the sunshine from falling on her body, her eyebrows rose, even though her eyes stayed closed. “You’re messing with my vitamin D absorption.”
He couldn’t stop himself from reaching for her. He cradled her face in his hand and brushed her bottom lip with his thumb. “You’re so beautiful.”
He didn’t make any move to come closer. Would she pull away? Would she reject what was unquestionably an advance?
Her eyelids fluttered open, and her smile was soft. “I wasn’t sure if you’d still think so today. Yesterday was ... a lot.”
“It was.” She leaned into his hand, and he found a few more words. “What areyouthinking today?”
