Page 12 of Rangers Unexpected Return

“You don’t live upstairs anymore.”

“I have memories there.”

“Most of them are inappropriate,” Wolf said.

Trigger smiled. “The best kind.”

Rylie appeared in the tavern doorway behind Nora.

She looked at the broken glasses, Trigger, and then me.

“Is this Mace?”

Trigger pointed at her. “My wife.”

Rylie walked down the steps and hugged me.

“I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“None of it was true.”

“Most of it came from Trigger, so I assumed that.”

Trigger looked offended. “You’re supposed to support me.”

“I support you when you make sense.”

“That doesn’t happen often,” Havoc said.

Rylie glanced at Max.

“He’s handsome.”

Trigger moved beside her. “I’m handsome.”

“You’re pretty.”

The men laughed.

Trigger frowned. “That sounded like an insult.”

“It was affectionate.”

I stood in the middle of the parking lot holding an apple pie while my old teammates argued, their wives laughed, and three older women discussed whether I needed new sheets.

Max slept on the dog bed June had brought him.

I hadn’t been in Eagle River for ten minutes.

Everyone had already made room for us.

Something tightened in my chest.

I looked toward the road.

For three years, the road had been the only thing that made sense. I never had to explain where I had been or decide where I belonged. I simply kept moving.

Stopping was harder.