Mid-July sun flitted over the lake, sending golden light dancing on the deep blue waters. Travis stood on the edge of the wooden dock, rolled a flat stone around in his fingers and then sent it skipping across the water. It bounced seven times before finally sinking and disappearing beneath the depths. His heart knew the feeling. He glanced back at the blissful scene behind him.
The children—soon to be his son and his daughter, by the grace of God—sat on the small strip of beach by the water’s edge happily piling sand into either small castles or large mud pies, Travis wasn’t quite sure. Willow seemed to have grown an entire inch since school ended, while Dominic had been so excited to figure out how to stand and toddle, that Travis had to baby-proof every inch of space in the cottage. He imagined the little boy would be running by Thanksgiving.
Patricia was curled up in a chair on the porch, reading lazily while she watched the children, the hospice nurse that witness protection had provided sitting beside her. The doctor’s last update had been hopeful that Patricia might make it to Christmas, although this might be her last summer.
His eyes rose to the pale blue sky above, dotted with the small, puffy white clouds that he and Willow had been finding animal shapes in all summer.
Lord, You’ve blessed me beyond my wildest dreams and given me so much more than I deserve. I’m so grateful.
And yet, with every piece of good news, every moment of joy and every unexpected gift God had given him in the past two weeks, Travis hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that the one person he most wanted to share the moment with wasn’t there beside him. He and Jess had barely talked after the moment she’d kissed him goodbye. But the thought of her had always been there, like a phantom pain in his chest from the piece of his heart she’d taken with her when she’d left.
Yet, he felt a foolish glimmer of hope still leap inside him, as it always did, when he heard the sound of tires crunching on the gravel road. He turned and saw a blue SUV pull up the long driveway to the cottage. How many times had he stood on this very dock, early in the morning, in the middle of the day and late at night, staring at the sky and missing her? How many times had he heard the phone ring or seen a vehicle pull up the drive and found himself hoping it was her?
The SUV stopped. The scruffy, lanky shape of Seth stepped out of the passenger side and tossed a wave in Travis’s direction before the hacker barreled down to the beach, catching Willow and Dominic in a hug as they squealed with joy.
Then the driver’s-side door opened.
Jess stepped out and Travis felt his heart freeze as her eyes locked on his face. Somehow she was even more beautiful than he remembered. Her hair was tied back in a braid, with gentle wisps slipping down around her face. The fact that she was wearing tan slacks instead of shorts with her pale blue T-shirt meant this was probably a professional visit instead of a spontaneous vacation. But as he walked up the dock and across the ground toward her, he knew with every beat of his heart that this time he wasn’t about to let her go until he’d said what he needed to say.
Their footsteps stopped, barely an arm’s length away from each other, and they stood there for a long moment without speaking.
“I came to tell you that the Chimera case has been officially closed,” Jess said, skipping straight to the point without a “hello” like they always had back when they’d worked together. “His bank accounts were drained, his associates all turned on him, his mercenaries and employees took pleas, and when he realized just how bad things could be if it went to trial, he cut a deal. He’ll be spending the rest of his life behind bars, and no longer has either the means or the clout to get revenge on any of the very many people who put him there. It is now the official opinion of the RCMP that while we recommend you exercise caution, the danger and threat he caused to your life is over.”
Relief flooded over him like a wave and yet there was still something he needed to know.
“What do you think I should do now?” he asked.
“Go back to Kilpatrick,” she said. “It’s your home and your children’s home. It’s where you belong. The RCMP will provide you any help you need to relocate your family and make sure you’re protected.”
His family. The incredible and amazing family that God had given him and yet still seemed incomplete. He took another step toward her and she moved toward him. His fingertips gently brushed against hers and he found himself wishing for a perfect time, place and setting to say the three little words that had been there underneath it all for as long as he could remember.
“Jess, I’m completely in love you,” Travis said. “As much as I can’t wait to move back to Kilpatrick, and spend the rest of my life being Willow and Dominic’s dad, I know my life won’t be complete without you.”
The happiness that filled her eyes was warm, deep, and felt like home. The fingers on both of her hands looped through his, linking them together. But she didn’t answer. She just stood there, looking up at him, like she was waiting on him to say something more.
But what? What else was there to possibly say?
“I don’t think I’m ever going to go back into police work,” he added, “but I’m happy to advise on cases wherever I can. I think you’re an incredible cop and more suited for this work than I’ve ever been. I think I’m cut out to be the one who has the kind of job that lets him be home with the kids, while you’re cut out to be the kind who’s out there saving lives and solving cases.”
A smile curled the corners of her lips. It was gently teasing and the one he knew he wanted to see every day for the rest of his life.
“What else do you want, Travis?” she asked. “Just come out right out and say it.”
He swallowed hard.
“I want to marry you,” Travis admitted. “I want you to be my wife, help me raise the kids and have a family with me.”
And one day, at the right time and the right place, he hoped with all his heart he’d be in a position to ask her that.
“Yes,” Jess said. She pulled her hands from his and slid them around his neck. “I love you, Travis, and I’ll marry you.”
Something leaped in his heart.
“Really?” he said. “You’ll marry me?”
“Yes, really!” She laughed. “I’ve already been reassigned from my existing job with the RCMP to a more senior consulting-detective role that will allow me to work remotely from Kilpatrick while still doing some traveling to work cases. But I’ll no longer be out in the field like I was.”
“You changed jobs...” He swallowed hard, lost for words. His arms wrapped around her. “Why?”
“Because I want to marry you, Travis,” she said. “I want to raise the kids with you, have a family with you, and be your partner in your life, your family, and home forever. And if you hadn’t asked me, I’d have asked you.”
Joy filled his heart. He leaned forward. His lips brushed hers gently.
“Daddy Travis!” Willow’s voice came from behind him. He pulled back, still cradling Jess in his arms as Willow came running across the ground toward them, followed by a red-faced Seth, Dominic in his arms.
Willow stopped short and crossed her arms. Her lips pursed quizzically. “Why are you cuddling Jess?”
Travis laughed. “Because she’s going to marry me, and we’re all going to live together as a family. What do you say to that?”
Willow paused for a moment and then nodded her approval.
“Okay,” she said. “I like that.”
Travis laughed. “I like that, too.”
Very, very much. More than he had words to say.
“Seth said my book is fiffy towns of ‘spensive,” Willow said seriously. “But I tol’ him it’s mine and Dominic’s.”
Travis glanced at Seth and felt his eyebrows rise. He and Seth had searched the book, inside and out, in the days following Alvin’s arrest and had not been able to find any reason why anyone would kill for it.
“Took me a while,” Seth said. “But I finally found out why Alvin went through that whole Shiny Man scheme to try to get his hands on Willow and Dominic’s bedtime storybook. It’s a rare first edition with the unique error of being stitched upside down. It’s valued anywhere from fifty to seventy-five thousand dollars.”
Travis felt his eyes widen. He fought the urge to whistle.
“But it’s mine and Dominic’s!” Willow said firmly. “I bought it with my own money!”
Travis nodded. “Yes, it’s yours and Dominic’s. And we’re going to get a very special box with a combination lock to keep it in until you and Dominic are old enough to decide what to do with it. Okay?”
Willow paused a moment. Then nodded and smiled. “Okay.”
“Now—” Travis glanced at Seth “—give Jess and me a moment? Then we’ll all go talk to Patricia together.”
Seth glanced at Jess and nodded. Then the hacker took Willow by the hand and led her up to where Patricia sat on the porch.
“Willow has taken that book out on the motorboat at least twice this summer,” Travis said. “And left it on the grass overnight. Thankfully it never got rained on or fell in the lake. I can’t believe we had something that valuable in our hands this whole time and didn’t see it.” Jess chuckled and he laughed, too. “Yeah, I get the irony.”
“Sounds like Willow and Dominic have quite the little nest egg for their future,” she said.
“Apparently,” Travis said.
He glanced to where his adopted family now gathered on the porch. Then he looked back down at the beautiful woman in his arms. Jess’s lips brushed his and he lifted her up off her feet as he kissed her back, knowing that in her he’d found all the treasure he’d ever need.
If you enjoyed this story, look for these other books in the Protected Identities series by Maggie K. Black:
Christmas Witness Protection
Runaway Witness
Keep reading for an excerpt from Undercover Threat by Sharon Dunn.