The Last Letter(45)

“No, that’s the sheriff’s department.”

His tone was curt, almost unrecognizable from the way he spoke to me and the kids.

“Private sector, huh?”

“Yes.”

One-word answer. Maybe Hailey was right—she’d simply seen something I hadn’t, because he hadn’t shown it around me.

“Ooh, the special kind of search and rescue,” she said, taking the step that did put her between us. “The ones who get contracted out for the dangerous calls.” Her voice lowered, and I stepped back to avoid asphyxiating on her perfume.

“I guess,” Beckett answered.

“You know that company is actually funded by a conglomerate of the owners of the ski resort and the hotels in the village, right? They wanted something immediately available, knowing how busy the sheriff’s office gets.”

“Is that so?” Beckett stepped back, but Maggie followed. His jaw flexed and the save-me look he shot my way was anything but funny. He really was that uncomfortable.

It was definitely time to intervene.

“She’s right,” I said as Colt took my hand. “Her husband owns one of the hotels, right, Maggie?”

She openly glared at me, but her face turned sweet when she looked back at Beckett, well, appraised was a better word. Openly ogled was another way to say it. “He does, which I guess means, in a way, you work for me.”

His eyes turned glacial. “I’m an independent contractor, which means I work for myself.”

I moved to stand next to Beckett, and he relaxed just enough for the change to be visible. “It’s always good to see you, Maggie, but I think these guys are getting hungry, right?” I asked Beckett.

He nodded. “It’s always nice to meet other parents in Colt and Maisie’s class.”

The words were the right ones, but they were forced, like he’d practiced them in his head before saying them aloud.

Maggie’s shoulders fell, but she quickly recovered. “Of course. I guess I’d better get back to Drake. Are you joining us?”

I looked down at Colt, who was luckily occupied with Havoc. He had to be getting hungry, and we were wasting lunch time out here.

“Actually, I was going to ask my Ella here if she wanted to grab some lunch with me.” The words came out of him just like every other time we’d talked by ourselves. Easy. Natural.

Maggie noticed.

Point. Set. Match.

Whether or not it was true, I could have kissed him in gratitude. Not that I was going to kiss him, or touch him in any way that indicated anything more than friendship, if that’s even what we had. What were we, anyway? Guilt-contracted neighbors?

Maggie nodded and spun on her heel, nearly taking me out. Beckett reached around, steadying my shoulder as she passed. Who cared about the truth? Not me!

After today’s meeting and Maggie attack, I felt a sense of rebellion well in my stomach and spread outward. “Colton MacKenzie.”

“Mom?”

“Wanna ditch the rest of the day with me? With us?” I glanced up at Beckett.

“Yes!”

“What do you want to do?” Beckett asked, crouching down.

Colt’s mouth and nose wiggled back and forth as he thought. “I want to picnic with Maisie. If she feels well enough.”

I’d so lucked out getting this kid.

“Picnic it is.”

As we walked out to our cars, I brushed Beckett’s arm, stopping him as Colt and Havoc walked ahead a few feet.

“You’re not a big people person, are you?”

“That obvious?”

“Absolutely.” But oddly endearing, too, realizing that he was different with me. “I just didn’t see it until now.”

“Yeah, well…I guess I’m just comfortable around you.”

That simple admission felt like the best compliment, and I felt my cheeks warm.

“You realize what you did, right?” I needed him to understand the commitment he’d made, how precious the trust of a child was.

“With lunch?”

“Soccer, Beckett. That’s three practices a week and games on the weekend. That means on the days I’m at the doctor with Maisie—”

“I’m at the field with Colt. I’m not going to let you down, Ella. Or him.”

My teeth sank into my lower lip as I fought the urge to believe him, to trust that he’d be where he said he would be.

“Trust me, please.”

“I know you have the best of intentions, but in my experience, guys…don’t always show up.” I spoke the last bit at the concrete between my feet. To be exact, they lied and said they would, then never did. Maybe their reasons varied, but the end result never did.

He tipped my chin up gently with his finger, and I found the courage bit by bit to meet his gaze.

“I will show up for you. For Colt. For Maisie. I will not walk away. I will not abandon you. I will not die.” His words hit me smack in my heart with the force of a ton of bricks. “I will show up, and if you don’t believe me now, that’s okay. I’ll earn it.”

“I have no right to expect that of you.” We weren’t together, or anything else that would even imply he had any such obligation. I had to trust that his sense of duty to my brother was strong enough to hold him here, and trust wasn’t one of my strong points.