Instead he'd given her space. Respect. Trust she hadn't earned.
Lord, I'm so tired. Too tired to keep all the walls up. Too tired to figure out what I'm supposed to feel.
The prayer felt raw. Desperate.
She closed her eyes and let exhaustion pull her under.
Gabe would leave.
She'd go back to being Cara Sweet, highly average baker.
But tonight, in this too-warm hospital room, she let herself feel it all.
The relief that David was alive.
The fear that she'd exposed too much.
The ache that came from watching someone walk away.
The hope that maybe, somehow, this wasn't the end.
Just a pause.
Outside, through the closed window, the ocean crashing against rocks. Relentless. Eternal. Unchanged.
The same sound that would be there tomorrow.
And all the tomorrows after.
45
The Portland Airportlooked the same as every other airport Gabe had passed through over the last twelve years.
Generic seating. Overpriced coffee. The particular smell of recycled air and anxiety.
He sat near Gate B7, his duffel at his feet, boarding pass on his phone. Back to the IA investigation he'd abandoned three weeks ago. Back to a job that felt smaller somehow after Haven Cove.
His phone rang. Price.
Gabe answered. "Yeah?"
"You at the airport?" Price's voice carried background noise—traffic, voices, the bustle of law enforcement coordinating a major crime scene.
"Boarding in forty-five minutes."
"Before you go, we need to talk." Price paused. "Haven Cove needs an interim police chief. It needs someone clean. Someone the community can trust."
"You're offering me the job?"
Price's tone turned serious. "I know you've got a career in Philadelphia. A life. But you're the right person for this,Gabe. And you've got a personal stake in making sure this never happens again."
Gabe stared at his boarding pass. Philadelphia meant Morrison, the IA investigation, desk work, and an apartment with no life.
Or Haven Cove. Purpose. Community. His brother only a few hours up the coast, and the chance to finish what their father started.
And certain mysterious baker woman.
He gripped the phone harder. "That’s a big change. I need to think about it."
