He grinned. “Like it? Wen’s wife has a t-shirt press and she made it for me.”
I felt my lower lip start to tremble, and I told myself not to cry. “I love it. But why’re you here?”
“I’m here because my stubborn girlfriend feels like she’s too much of a loose cannon for me to deal with. I needed to find a way to show her that I care about her no matter what job she has.”
I laughed. “So you’re saying if I can see past your job, you can see past mine?”
“Something like that.” He gathered my hands in his. “Alexa, I want you to hear me when I say it doesn’t matter to me what job I do as long as you are with me. Whether it’s being a cop or being a chimney sweeper, I don’t care. What I care about—whoI care about—is you.”
A tear rolled down my cheek. “I care about you too.”
Gathering my face into his hands, he tipped my head up and brushed the tear away with his thumb. “Good. Because if you ever try to tell me that I can’t love you because of who you are, I’m going to put you in my handcuffs and tie you to a tree until you come to your senses.”
I barked out a laugh. “Deal.”
He crushed his lips to mine, and I kissed him back with wild abandon—out of my mind with joy. It wasn’t until I heard the whistles and claps that I realized we had an audience.
“You’re sure you won’t get in trouble for being here and protesting?” I asked.
Chase shrugged. “Technically I’m still on vacation. I can do whatever I want with my time. Plus, my chief is getting a kick out of the whole cop-loves-criminal thing.” He kissed my forehead, and I tried not to go all wiggly inside at the mention of love. “Just know, I wouldn’t miss this for anything. I can’t wait to see you do your thing.” He handed me a bullhorn. “Take it away!”
I reached up on my tiptoes and drew him down, giving him a quick, hard kiss on the mouth. “Thank you. But are you sure? I don’t want you to have to choose between me and your job. I’ll always be the loose-cannon advocate, and you’ll always be the straight-laced cop.”
He reached down and cupped my face in his hands. “And I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
I threw my arms around him and squeezed him as hard as I could. “Well, if you’re sure.” I snatched the bullhorn out of his hands and turned to face the crowd. I was in my element. It was time to take Bernie Schuler down!
Chapter 19
“Looks like everyone is here,” I said as Chase parked his truck in the restaurant parking lot.
Mom and Dad had begged off after the protest and headed back home to Mt. Hood. It was a little over two hours drive and they wanted to get on the road. Everyone else agreed to meet up at Tony’s Surf & Turf, a thirty minute ride from Trinity Falls toward the ocean, for a victory dinner.
“Over here,” Kat called out as Chase and I walked through the door.
Tony’s Surf & Turf was a small hole-in-the-wall type restaurant. It was dark and crowded inside, and the décor was at least fifteen years old. But it smelled delicious.
“Alexa, I don’t think you’ve met my daughter and her guy,” Marla said, her arm around Sheriff Cryer. “This is Monica and Jacob.”
“Nice to meet you.” I shook their hands and tried not to stare. There had to be at least ten years difference in their ages, with Monica being older.
“And this is my fiancé, Caleb,” Kat said.
“My grandson,” Gilda piped up.
“My soon-to-be grandson,” Mimi countered.
Lance leaned over and kissed my cheek. “I don’t have anything so magnanimous to announce. It’s just me and Judge.”
I waved to Ingrid and Mr. and Mrs. Carson as the hostess led us to a massive table apart from the other restaurant goers. She took our drink order while we glanced over the menu. Ten minutes later our drinks arrived and our waitress came over to get our orders.
“Before dinner arrives,” Mimi said as she got to her feet, “I think it’s time we let Alexa and Chase in on our secret.”
I perked up at this. “What secret?”
Chase shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea.”
“A little less than a month ago,” Mimi continued, “we were all sitting in Monica’s backyard patting ourselves on the back for bringing Monica and Jacob together.”
