Jill Shalvis - At Last

“I won’t have any problems.”

“Amy.” His voice was serious. His eyes were serious. Everything about him was terrifyingly serious.

“Okay,” she said on a sigh and closed her eyes. “Okay. I’ll call you if there are any problems.”

She felt his weight shift, then the brush of his mouth against her temple. “Lock up behind me,” he said, and then she heard the front door closing, leaving her just as she’d told him she’d wanted-alone.

It was three in the morning before Matt got done, and he made a drive-by past Amy’s place.

It was dark.

He stared up at her window, hoping Riley was there now, and that both she and Amy were sleeping.

At home, he fell into bed exhausted and got two hours of sleep before his alarm went off. On his way to the station, he made another drive-by, this one at the hospital. He still hadn’t gotten to talk to Trevor. Unfortunately, the kid was sleeping and not to be disturbed until visiting hours, when of course his attorney would be present.

Matt made his way to Josh’s office and found him pacing in the hallway, looking down at his phone. Josh’s five o’clock shadow had its own five o’clock shadow. His eyes were dark with exhaustion. He was either hungover as shit or hadn’t slept either. Matt shook his head. “Let me guess. You fucked up at work, and a stupid kid got himself hurt, and now his rich daddy is trying to ruin your life.”

Josh huffed out a mirthless laugh and dropped his head, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. He was in scrubs and a white doctor’s coat with a stethoscope hanging around his neck. “No. There was a gas leak in my house, had to evacuate Anna and Toby.”

“Where are they?”

Josh grimaced. “In there,” he said, gesturing to his office. “I gave Anna money to go to the cafeteria and get them breakfast, thinking they could sit quietly in my office and watch videos on my computer while I made morning rounds. Anna got donuts.”

“Any left?” Matt asked hopefully.

“I don’t know, but there’s a sugar high going on in there that rivals Looney Tunes. They’re both bouncing off the walls.” Josh stared at his closed office door like it was a hissing cobra. “Toby’s nanny is sick. I’ve called everyone in my contact list for a temp babysitter, but no one answered my calls.”

Matt laughed softly. “That’s because Thing One and Thing Two have worn out everyone in town.”

Josh blew out a breath. “Mallory called Lucille for me. Lucille said she’d give me a couple of hours if I promised to pose for her Facebook photo album.”

Matt found a laugh in what was proving to be a shit day. “With clothes, or without?”

“Fuck you.”

“Not my type.” Matt pulled open Josh’s office door.

Anna was spinning in her wheelchair. Toby was in her lap, the both of them howling with laughter. At the sight of Matt, Anna grinned wide but didn’t stop spinning. “Matty!” she yelled, knocking a stack of files off Josh’s desk.

Matt caught and righted the stack, then stuck his foot into the spokes of one of the wheels of her chair, stopping her on a dime. Leaning down, he hugged them both, then smiled at Toby. Josh’s mini-me was holding a donut in one hand and a lightsaber in the other, chocolate all over his face.

“What’s with the lightsaber?” Matt asked, snagging a donut.

Toby slashed the lightsaber through the air. It lit up and made a swoosh sound.

Matt rumpled the kid’s hair. “So you’re a Jedi.”

Toby nodded.

Matt looked at Anna. “You guys are driving your brother nuts. You know that, right?”

Anna grinned. “It’s a short drive.”

Matt laughed softly. “Try to take it easy on him.”

“Why?” Anna asked.

Good question. Matt took a second donut because it was a second-donut kind of day and left to face it. Double fisting his breakfast jackpot, he went back into the hall just as Josh was shoving his cell phone in his pocket.

“Your climber’s awake,” Josh told him. “His lawyer’s on his way. You might want to get a better breakfast than that,” he said, nodding to the double donuts. “You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

Matt finished donut number one. “It’s the job.”

“Yeah?” Josh asked. “Thought maybe it was the sexy waitress.”

“Bite me.”

Josh grinned for the first time all morning. “Ah, man. You’re so going down. Just like Ty. Give me half that donut.”

“Hell no.”

“I need it more than you.”

Matt shoved it into his own mouth.

“You’re an asshole,” Josh said.

“Maybe.” He chewed and swallowed. “But I don’t have two people swinging from the chandeliers in my office.”

Sure, chocolate has more calories than love, but it’s way more satisfying.

Amy woke up at dawn, groggy from the pain pill. Josh had put a waterproof bandage on her wound, so she was able to shower. After, she dressed and then walked out of her bedroom to start the coffee, stopping short on her way to the kitchen.

Riley was asleep on her couch.

“Hey,” Amy said in surprise.

Snapping to immediate alertness, Riley jerked upright, her hand coming up with something glinting in her fist.

A knife.

“Whoa,” Amy said, bending a little at the waist to ease the tightening on her stitches. “Just me.”

Riley’s hand vanished behind her. “Sorry. You startled me.” Her eyes narrowed in on the way Amy was favoring her side. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I got cut on the broken glass last night, needed a few stitches.”

Riley paled. “Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” She rushed off the couch and came toward Amy. “I’m so sorry. Are you all right?”

“Yes. Are you?”

“I’m fine-Forget me. How many stitches? How did I not know this?”

“Maybe because you vanished on me. Are you really okay?”

Riley blew out a breath and nodded shakily. “This shouldn’t have happened to you.”

Amy pushed a pale, shaky Riley back to the couch. She sat next to her and reached for her hand. “I’m okay, honest. And I’m glad I was there. If I hadn’t shown up when I did…”

Riley closed her eyes. “I know.” She opened her eyes, her expression fierce. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know.”

“I mean, I’ve changed. I’m changing.”

Amy leaned in and hugged her tight. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“But it was! He was after me, not you.” Riley pulled free and stood. She picked up her backpack.

“Riley,” she said softly. “Can’t you tell me about it? I can help. I can-”

“No.” Riley shook her head violently. “I’ve screwed everything up.” Riley closed her eyes for a beat, then headed to the door.

“I know more than you think,” Amy told her. “I was the queen of screwup when I was a kid, and I only got worse as a teen. I screwed up over and over again, and then, by the time I was in real trouble, no one cared. I’d made sure of it.”

Riley turned to face her but said nothing, breaking Amy’s heart with her doubt.

“You can tell me anything,” Amy said. “Anything.”

Riley hesitated, then shook her head and reached for the door. “Sorry. I’m so sorry, but I gotta go.”

And then there was nothing but the sound of the front door shutting hard.

Amy was still sitting on the couch when her cell rang.

“I’m giving you today off,” Jan said.

“Not necessary.”

“You were stabbed on my premises last night,” Jan said. “I don’t want Lucille getting the story or pics. The negative press will kill me. Take a damn day off.”

“I wasn’t stabbed!”

“Good. Go with that.”

“But-”

But Jan was already gone.

Fine. Amy loaded her sketchpad and a few snacks into her backpack. If she couldn’t work, she’d clear her head and draw. In fact, now that she thought about it, she needed that more than anything she could think of.

Well… other than the need to be near Matt, the guy she’d promised herself she wouldn’t fall for. Except she’d broken that promise. How else could she explain parking at the North District Ranger Station? She could have gone out on her own patio to sketch, but she’d come here.

Fine. Maybe she wasn’t up for a hike or figuring out her grandma’s cryptic journey right now, but the grounds here were beautiful and peaceful, and she spent an hour sitting on a rock in front of a creek with her sketchpad, trying to clear her mind.

It refused to be cleared. Instead, it kept wandering to Matt. This distance between them was her own doing. Not a surprise, as she’d been sabotaging her own happiness for a long time. She’d known this thing with him would eventually fall apart, but she’d been secretly hoping it wouldn’t.

And if that wasn’t a terrifying thought. For the first time in her life, she wanted to ride the train to the end of the line instead jumping off before it even stopped.