“Okay. I’ll be home by six.”
“Good. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
He hung up feeling lighter. This was what normal felt like. What having someone to come home to felt like.
He could get used to this.
***
Carson walked through the door at six-fifteen, apologizing for being late.
“It’s fine,” Nora said, emerging from the kitchen in jeans and one of his button-downs, sleeves rolled up. She looked beautiful and domestic and his. It was all he could do to behave. “Dinner’s almost ready. How was your day?”
“Long. Uneventful. I reviewed cold cases all day.” He kissed her hello, lingering longer than necessary, promising himself he’d wait until afterdinner to take more, and then all bets were off. “This is nice. Coming home to you.”
“It really is, isn’t it?” She led him to the table, already set with plates and candles. “I made chicken parmesan. From scratch.”
“Impressive.”
“I’m a woman of many talents.”
They ate dinner together, talking about their days. Nora told him about the business consultant she’d video-called with, about the plans she was making. Carson told her about the cold cases, carefully editing out the parts about Avery Shone and destroyed evidence. No need to worry her with work stuff.
After dinner, they cleaned up together, moving around the kitchen with easy familiarity.
“This is what I imagined,” Nora said as Carson dried dishes while she washed. “When I thought about what a real relationship would look like. This. Boring domestic stuff that feels perfect because we’re doing it together.”
“Yeah.” Carson set down the towel and pulled her close, ignoring the soapy water on her hands. “This is perfect.”
They stayed like that for a moment, just holding each other in the kitchen, both marveling at how far they’d come.
From victim and detective.
To partners.
To lovers.
To home.
“Thank you,” Nora said quietly.
“For what?”
She looked up at him. “For giving me this. A life I never thought I could have.”
“Thank you for trusting me. For letting me in. For showing me that it’s okay to love someone again.” He kissed her forehead. “For giving me a reason to come home.”
They made love that night slowly, sweetly, taking their time learning each other all over again. And afterward, wrapped in each other’s arms, both of them felt the same truth.
This was real.
This was theirs.
This was forever.
And for the first time in both their lives, forever didn’t feel scary.
