Page 18 of Revival in Laurel Valley

“Just thinking.” She turned from the mirror. “I came here planning to sell everything and leave. Now I’m leaving, and all I can think about is whether I’ll get to come back.”

“You will.”

The certainty in his voice made her look at him. In the dim glow from the dashboard, his profile was all sharp angles and determined lines. “You sound pretty sure about that.”

“I am.” His hands were steady on the wheel. “We’re going to get through this. Caine’s good, but she’s emotional now. Reckless. That makes her predictable.”

“And predictable is good?”

“Predictable is manageable.” He glanced at her. “How’s your head really?”

“Hurts. But the painkillers are helping.” She shifted in her seat, trying to find a comfortable position.

“We’re almost there.” The pavement had already given way to gravel, the Bronco’s headlights cutting through the darkness. “Try to rest. I’ll wake you when we get there.”

But Liza didn’t want to rest. Didn’t want to close her eyes and see the muzzle flash, hear the sound of shattering glass. So instead, she studied Grant.

“Tell me about Detroit,” she said. “What was it like before everything went wrong?”

He was quiet for a long moment, his eyes on the road. “It was everything. The job, I mean. I didn’t have much else.”

“No family?”

“Parents died when I was in my twenties. Car accident. No siblings. A few cousins I haven’t talked to in years.” His jaw tightened. “The department was my family. The guys I worked with, the people I served with—they were it.”

“And they turned their backs on you.”

“Internal affairs did what they thought was right. Protecting the department’s reputation, minimizing liability.” But the bitterness in his voice said he didn’t really believe that. “Doesn’t matter now. It’s done.”

Liza heard the finality in those words. The way he’d closed the door on twenty years of his life. “So what comes next? After this is over?”

“I don’t know.” He took a curve too fast, then corrected. “Haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“Liar.”

That got a smile out of him. “What makes you say that?”

“Because you’re the kind of man who always has a plan. Multiple plans, probably. Backup plans for your backup plans.” She looked at him more directly. “So what’s the plan, Grant Boone? What do you do when you’re not running from psycho ex-cops?”

He was quiet for so long she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he said, “Blaze offered me a job. As the chief deputy. Said the town could use someone with my experience.”

“And?”

“And I told him I’d think about it.” He glanced at her. “Didn’t seem like I had much to offer a place like Laurel Valley. Just a lot of baggage and enemies.”

“For what it’s worth, I think you’d be good at it.” Liza meant it. She’d seen him in action today—the way he’d protected her, the way he’d taken charge of the chaos. “And Laurel Valley could use someone like you. Someone who knows real danger, not just drunk tourists and runaway livestock.”

“Lane told you about the cattle incident?”

“Everyone told me about the cattle incident.” She laughed. “Apparently it’s the most exciting thing that’s happened here in months. Until today, anyway.”

The humor faded as they both remembered why they were driving through the darkness.

“What about you?” Grant asked. “What comes next for Liza Carmichael?”

“I honestly don’t know.” She looked out at the darkness rushing past. “I thought I had it figured out. Sell the bakery, go to LA, start fresh somewhere nobody knew me. But now…” She trailed off.

“Now?”