The Closer You Come (The Original Heartbreakers, #1)(121)

Hinges on the door creaked, and Sheriff Lintz finally ambled his way back inside the room.

“Lawyer” was all Jase said.

The sheriff pushed back his Stetson, revealing a receding salt-and-pepper hairline. “You’re free to go, son.”

Jase blinked at him. “Excuse me?” Was this a trick? The guy must know about his past by now. And he was just going to let him loose in the wild?

“No charges will be filed against you at this time. Or at all,” the sheriff added, striding deeper into the room, his boots thumping against the tile floor. He sat across from Jase, who hadn’t risen. “Me and my boys talked to all the party guests. We were told time and time again how Brook Lynn and West were attacked and you came to their rescue. How you defended them. Now Stanton Gillis, on the other hand, is being charged with assault and, considering the things we found in the trunk of his car, attempted murder. He’ll be locked away for a long time.”

Jase’s relief was palpable, and any resentment he held against Stanton Gillis evaporated like mist. A day hadn’t gone by that he hadn’t felt sorry for the pain he’d caused Pax’s family—and tonight he’d finally seen the extent of it. The guy had held on to his bitterness all this time, letting it drive his every thought and action, and nothing good had come of it.

“You know I’m an ex-con,” he said, still refusing to believe that he was being freed.

“That’s right, I surely do. I’ve known who and what you are since the moment you moved to town.”

Jase blinked in surprise. The sheriff had known, and yet he had never harassed Jase. Never tried to convince him to move away. Never warned him away from Brook Lynn.

“And the people of this town know, too,” the sheriff added. “I made sure of it.”

Jase’s heart almost stopped. How long had they known? Nobody had said anything or treated him any differently. “I get why you did it, but not why—”

“No, you don’t get it. People would have found out sooner or later, and then we would have had ourselves a lynch mob, one person’s outrage feeding everyone else’s. I decided to be proactive and save us all the trouble.”

“Save me, you mean. But why? You don’t know me.”

“Son,” the sheriff said, resting his boot on the edge of Jase’s chair. “I like to think I’m a pretty good judge of character. I’ve seen the best, and I’ve seen the worst. I don’t know you, you’re right about that, but I’ve watched you. You got you some faults, that’s for sure, but who among us doesn’t? You’ve also got you some character, and that’s more than a lot of others can say.”

It was almost too much to take in. This was the first time in his life he’d lived somewhere that truly felt like home, where he was accepted, faults and all. “You have to know there are conditions to my parole...”

“Your parole hasn’t been violated. Even ex-cons have a right to defend themselves and their loved ones.”

“I...don’t know what to say.”

“Well, then. Don’t say anything. Like I told you, you’re free to go.”

Damn if tears didn’t burn the backs of Jase’s eyes as he pushed to his feet. Second time this week, when he’d gone years without shedding a single one. He’d become a puss, and he didn’t care. “Thank you.”

“You’ve got a very concerned fiancée out there waiting for you.”

The sheriff opened the door. Jase shook his hand before striding into the corridor.

Brook Lynn paced in the lobby, and when she spotted him, a whimper left her. She raced over and threw herself into his arms. He caught her and held on for dear life.

He closed his eyes, breathed her in. Contentment like he’d never known poured through him. Just like that, in a single snap of time, all of his worries—the familiar fear that things were destined to fall apart—fled. This was it, he realized. The fresh start he’d wanted. It started now, this moment. With this woman.

“I was so worried about you,” she said.

“I’m okay. I’m not going back to prison.”

Her hold on him tightened. “Thank God.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t back off. I’m sorry I let things go so far.”

“Hey. Hey, now.” She pulled back to frame his face in her hands. “You did back off, and I’m proud of you.”

Proud of you. He’d never heard those words before. Not directed at him.

“You’re not afraid of me?” he asked.

“Never.”

The contentment gave way to happiness, and he swung her around, overwhelmed. This wasn’t just a fresh start, he realized, but everything he’d ever wanted.

“You,” he said. It was all he could manage at the moment.

“Us,” she replied.

Stronger together than apart. Better together. Meant to be.

“I’ve waited my whole life for you,” he said. “And you were worth every second.”

*

THE LOVE OF his life beamed at him the entire drive home. Daphne and Hope were there, waiting for him. So were Beck and a sobered-up West. Even Jessie Kay, Dane, Kenna and Norrie. Jase was hugged by every single one of them. He explained the situation, told them what the sheriff had said, and there was a collective sigh of relief.