Page 82 of The Hero
“What?” he asked, confused by the abrupt change in topic.
“I don’t want to think about Ian West, or prison, or coins, or anything else until I’m forced to. I’d love to go with you the next time you have a call. See a bit more of Newton. See what it is you do. I can help too.”
Bob smiled at her. “You ever use a chain saw?”
She wrinkled her nose. “No, but I can carry stuff for you, or put on a yellow vest and direct traffic away from the tree, or simply talk to you while you work. Please?”
“Of course you can come. But it’s not that exciting.”
“I’m sure you’d say that about an archaeological dig too, but you’d be surprised at how fun it can be.”
“All right.”
“Yay,” she said with a smile.
Bob was relieved to see the spark back in Marlowe’s eyes, but he was still worried about the upcoming meeting with West. Desperate men did desperate things. He knew that better than most. And while he was supportive of Marlowe wanting to do what she could to take the asshole down, he didn’t want her getting hurt in the process. The only reason he wasn’t trying to talk her out of this entire thing was because West had no history of any kind of violence in his past.
“So, now that I’m over my freak-out, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?” she asked with a grin.
The first thing that sprang to Bob’s mind was taking her back to bed, but he had a feeling that wasn’t what she needed.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
“Fine, why?” she said without hesitation.
“No cramps?”
She blushed a little and shook her head. “No.”
“How about a little hike? This part of the country is beautiful, and there’s an overlook called Table Rock that I think you’d love. There area lot of places with that name around the country, but this one is the most impressive.”
Marlowe tilted her head. “How do you know? Have you been to them all?” she teased.
He chuckled. “No. But I’ve been to one out in New Mexico. I have a friend who owns kind of a resort with his buddies out there. It’s a place where people who suffer from PTSD can go to completely relax. It’s pretty, but our Table Rock has theirs beat.”
“With that kind of buildup, I definitely want to see this place now,” Marlowe teased.
Bob leaned forward and kissed her. It wasn’t short, but it wasn’t a precursor to taking her to bed either. “I love you,” he said when he’d lifted his head. “You’re the kind of woman a man looks for all his life. I know I’ve hit the jackpot, and I’m going to try like hell not to screw this up.”
She shook her head. “I’m nothing special, Kendric. I’m just a hardworking woman who does her best to be kind to those around her, and who’s muddling along the best she can.”
“You go right on thinking that, Punky. I know the truth,” he told her.
“Whatever. What should I wear? How long are we going to be gone? Do we need snacks?”
Her excitement couldn’t be contained, and Bob was thrilled. He was looking forward to showing Marlowe everything about this little corner of Maine. It might not have been his first choice in where to live out the rest of his life, but he was learning to love it more and more.
“Layers. Just in case you get too hot or cold. And your hiking boots. It’ll be four or five hours probably. I’ll make us a lunch and include snacks as well.”
“Sounds perfect.” Then she leaned down and kissed him briefly, before hopping off his lap and heading for the bedroom. She turned around at the last minute before she disappeared down the hall. “Kendric?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you too. Thanks for letting me cry on you. I promise not to make a habit of it.”
“Doesn’t matter if you do, it won’t make me love you any less,” he reassured her.
She gifted him with a huge smile, then spun and disappeared down the hall.
