Breathe

Well, there you go.

“Lapis Bravery,” Sunny, at this point, murmured under her breath.

“Perfect,” Shambles murmured back.

“What?” I asked and Sunny’s eyes tipped to me.

“Lapis,” she said softly, “his eyes. Bravery,” she hesitated and I felt my throat get thick before she finished, “him.”

That was perfect. If there ever was a hippie name for Chace, that was it.

Chace didn’t think so and I knew this when I felt his body get tight and he asked, “What the f**k?”

I looked up at him. “Your hippie name. I’m Crimson Stargazer. Lexie is Midnight Sunshine. Sunny is Sunray Goddess. And you’re Lapis Bravery.”

“I don’t –” he started but I gave his waist a squeeze and shook my head once.

His jaw got hard and he shut up.

I looked into the display and ordered a blueberry muffin with brown sugar crumbles on top. Chace took the fun out of it by ordering a carrot muffin made of whole wheat flour which was the healthiest thing in the display.

Chace paid and I didn’t even go for my purse. This was because Chace paid. I learned that lesson already. In fact, I learned it the third time I tried to text him saying coffees were my treat at stakeouts and he’d texted back:

Baby, I pay. The end.

There you go.

The end.

We gave our farewells and were walking back to his truck (we’d dropped mine at my place before shopping) when Chace started, “Faye, I’m not big on –”

I stopped walking abruptly and stopped him with me on a tug at his waist (we still had our arms around each other).

Chace looked down at me and I whispered, “Don’t.”

“Baby –”

I shook my head and turned into him, getting up on my toes. “Baby works for you, honey, but this time, please, don’t use it. You’re that to people in this town. You’re bravery. I don’t know why you don’t like it, why you get that weird look on your face and tone in your voice when it comes up. I want to know and hope I will, when you’re ready to tell me. But let them have that. In this town, after what went down, people need to believe that. And Sunny especially.”

Sunny, too, had been kidnapped and stabbed by the serial killer Dalton McIntyre. Arnie Fuller had not instigated a search for her even after Tonia Payne had already been killed. It was Tate and Wood who went looking for her and called in the police to assist with the search. She had been quiet for a while after that. Now she was back to her normal self.

So everyone needed to believe there was bravery behind the badges that protected that town.

But Sunny needed to be a true believer.

Chace stared down at me and a muscle ticked in his square jaw. But he didn’t say anything and this I correctly took as him giving in.

I pulled in a breath and hoped I was doing the right thing when I tipped further up on my toes and kissed that jaw.

I did it right.

I knew this when he sighed, his arm got tight around my shoulders giving me a mini-hug then it loosened telling me to step back and get a move on.

I stepped back, adjusted to his side and got a move on.

But this didn’t mean I didn’t worry about what just happened. I wasn’t wrong. Chace didn’t like being a local hero.

Any man should be humble. I knew this because my Dad said so.

But that wasn’t it.

It was deeper, darker.

And I hoped he’d one day share it with me so I could throw some light on it.

* * * * *

Nine sixteen that morning

I watched Chace’s door open on his Yukon and then I watched him fold out, slam it and saunter to me.

Malachi hadn’t shown. He was never this late.

Ever.

I bit my lip as Chace approached and saw Chace’s eyes drop to my mouth.

When Chace stopped in front of me, he shared his guess, “He either saw you standin’ there and decided not to approach or he’s late.”

I threw out an alternate guess, “Or something’s wrong.”

Chace lifted a hand, pulled my hair off my shoulder then curled his fingers around the side of my neck, ordering gently, “Don’t jump to that conclusion, darlin’.”

I bit my lip again.

Chace kept talking.

“Maybe it’s too soon for him. You told me Krystal said she’d take yesterday’s shift. If Krystal said she’d do that, she did it. There were no bags here when we got here. So he came yesterday. Today you’re here, visible. Maybe he’s not ready for a meet.”

I stopped biting my lip and nodded.

Chace kept going.

“I should have signed in over an hour ago. I gotta go.”

I’d never thought of that. He told me his schedule pretty much adhered to when crime was committed but his scheduled hours were eight to five with every other weekend on call. We’d been staking out the return bin for two weeks so this meant he’d been late to work every day for two weeks.

I tilted my head to the side and asked, “Are you going to get into trouble because you’re late?”

“Cap knows about Malachi and the stakeouts. I got my phone, they need me, they know where I am so no. But I’m never in this late so, now, I gotta go.”

I nodded.

“What’re you gonna do?” he asked.

“Um… walk home, get changed, get in my car and come back, see if the bags are gone. Park on the street and watch awhile if they aren’t.”

Chace nodded this time. “You want a ride?”

I shook my head. “No, a walk will do me good.”

His hand gave me a squeeze and then he asked a question I really, really liked.

“We doin’ your place or my place tonight?”

He wanted to see me again and soon.

Yippee!

After celebrating inside, I contemplated his question. His house was better than mine. So was his kitchen. But my house had my clothes in it. I wasn’t one of those people who knew what they were going to wear throughout the week. Not even the next day. I usually stood in front of my wardrobe for ten minutes making my selection the morning of.

Though, I was assuming his question of my place or his meant not only where we’d be meeting and eating but also sleeping.

Maybe I was wrong.

But I hoped I wasn’t.

Belatedly and hesitantly, I answered, “Mine.”

“Good,” he muttered dipping his head to touch his mouth to mine then moving back a scant inch. “There’s a piece of furniture in your house that’s on display I been lookin’ forward to tryin’ out.”