The next hour passed in a blur of statements and questions. Rachel sat close to Jack in the conference room, their hands linked under the table. Shiloh sat on her other side, Joseph hovering nearby with an ice pack pressed to Shiloh's cheek where Isaiah had struck her.
Rachel wondered if sitting in a police station twice in just a few months was normal, but was fairly sure it wasn’t. As long as she had Shiloh, Joseph, and Jack with her, she didn’t care where she was.
When they were finally allowed to leave, Rachel walked out into the fading afternoon light feeling like she could breathe for the first time in months. Isaiah was gone. Really gone. Locked up and facing assault and attempted kidnapping charges in Virginia as well as murder charges in Pennsylvania.
Jack walked them to Shiloh's car, still holding Rachel's hand.
“Thank you,” Shiloh said to him, her voice thick with emotion. “Thank you for protecting her.”
Jack's face flushed. “I just did what anyone would do.”
“No,” Shiloh said firmly. “You did what a good man does. You ran toward danger to protect someone you care about.”
Rachel looked up at Jack, seeing the way he stood a little straighter at Shiloh's words. She squeezed his hand. “I can’t believe I kicked someone,” she whispered.
Jack grinned. “You’re fierce.”
She giggled, her eyes wide. Her hand came up to touch his face. “You’re my hero.”
His arms tightened around her. “Always.”
“I'll see you at school tomorrow?” Jack asked, his eyes searching Rachel's face.
“I'll be there,” Rachel promised.
Jack leaned down and kissed her, soft and sweet, right there in front of Shiloh and half the sheriff's department. When he pulled back, Rachel was smiling.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “For everything.”
“Always,” Jack said again.
As they drove away, Rachel looked at Jack standing in the parking lot, watching them go. Shiloh glanced at her niece and smiled despite the bruise forming on her cheek.
“That boy loves you,” Shiloh said.
Rachel touched her lips, still feeling the warmth of Jack's kiss. “I know. And I love him too.”
It was the truth. At almost fifteen years old, Rachel Ayers knew with absolute certainty that Jack Hudson was the person she wanted to face the world with. He'd proven it today, just as he'd proven it in the water weeks ago. He proved it every single day by choosing her, protecting her, and cherishing her.
The past was finally behind them, and Rachel and Shiloh were free to build their lives in Baytown without fear.
But more than that, Rachel had found something she'd never expected… a boy who looked at her like she was precious. A boy who ran toward danger to keep her safe. A boy who was patient, kind, and brave.
She'd found Jack. And she never wanted to let him go.
4
The late afternoon sun slanted across the backyard of Jack’s parents’ house, casting everything in warm golden light. Rachel and Shiloh had been in Baytown for over a year, and the small town didn’t just feel like home… it was home.
Rachel sat on a picnic blanket spread across the grass, her back against Jack's chest, his arms wrapped loosely around her waist. The smell of burgers on the grill mixed with the salt air drifting in from the bay. Carrie sat at the picnic table next to Shiloh, with her baby, Carson, in her arms.
Rachel felt Jack's chin rest on her shoulder, his breath warm against her ear. “You comfortable?”
“Mmm.” She let herself relax more fully against him, feeling the steady rhythm of his heartbeat through her back. “This is perfect.”
And it was.
Colt stood at the grill, his attention focused on flipping burgers with the kind of serious concentration he brought to everything he did. Joseph stood beside him, the two men talking quietly, occasionally laughing at something one of them said. They'd developed an easy friendship over the past months, bound by their shared work in law enforcement and their shared love for the women sitting at the picnic table.
