Ropes and Revenge (25 page)

“It’s all right,” Percy said, clinging to the handle above her window. “He dropped the gun.”

“I know.” John turned onto the highway, gaining speed as he aimed the truck back toward town. “I saw it. I saw…her.” He cursed softly. “Jesus, Percy. It was her. It was Lily. She went straight through him.”

Percy shifted in her seat, surprised. “I didn’t see that. I only saw a ripple in the air.”

John glanced into the rearview mirror before turning his attention back to the road. “It was her. I’m sure of it.”

She turned to look over her shoulder. “I wish we could have stayed.”

“It’s too dangerous,” John said. “We have to get to the police.”

“I know, but I would have liked to thank her,” Percy said softly. “And promised her I would take good care of you.”

Gradually, John eased off the accelerator and the truck slowed to something resembling the speed limit. “She knows,” he said, reaching out to take her hand. “She’s the one who told me to follow Clint’s car. I heard her voice in my head when I was headed to Yasmin’s.”

“Even more reason to thank her.” Percy threaded her fingers through his. “And to believe you’re more psychic than you think.”

John made a doubtful sound. “As psychic as those rocks on the side of the road.”

“I would disagree.” Percy leaned into him, beginning to relax now that the distance between them and danger was increasing with every passing minute. “From what I’ve seen, you’re more attuned to energies outside the realm of average human perception than you think. With a little training, you—”

“No way, Spooky.” John shook his head as he put his arm around her shoulders. “I’m no ghost whisperer. I’m just a normal guy.”

“I would disagree with that, too,” she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you for saving my life.”

He hugged her closer. “Thank you for saving mine.”

“Anytime,” she said, meaning it with all her heart.

They fell silent after that, but there wasn’t any need for words. Everything important had already been said.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Five weeks later

John

The winter chill had finally settled into the desert ground and everywhere there were signs of the old year winding down.

On the ranch, the fences had been mended, a wind break set up in the back pasture, and John and Cole had filled the barn with enough hay to keep the cattle away from the winter rye for another month or two. In town, heavy garland bows stretched across Main Street and the annual Christmas carnival had just finished setting up in the square.

By the time John, Percy, and the boys arrived in downtown late Thursday afternoon to celebrate the last day of school, the entire street smelled of peppermint cotton candy and hot chocolate and brightly colored lights lit up the pale winter air. There weren’t as many rides as there had been at the harvest fair, but Percy and the boys still managed to have more than their fair share of fun.

John let them drag him down the midway, enjoying the way Carter and Percy held their arms up on the Ferris wheel and Peyton’s irrepressible giggles on the Drop Zone far more than the rides themselves. He loved watching the people he loved enjoy each other. And as the hours ticked by and it grew closer to the moment when he and Percy were going to meet Layla to drop off the kids, he grew more grateful for the second chance he’d been given.

And more nervous.

The past month had been amazing. Percy had fit into his family and Lonesome Point like this was where she was meant to be. Within days of Clint and the Wheeler brothers’ arrests, Percy had a job working as a tour guide at the ghost town. Within a week, she’d joined a knitting circle that met in the old theater to knit while they watched the classic of the week and go for coffee after. And by the middle of December, she’d been drafted onto the Lonesome Point Betterment Society, filling in for the other Old West history buff while he was taking care of his sick mother.

Meanwhile, Percy and Laura Mae continued to get along like peas in a pod, Layla had Percy over for coffee every other day, and the boys couldn’t be crazier about her. Carter had taken it upon himself to teach Percy how to play poker—and take her for at least fifty pennies a game—and Peyton snuggled with her for story time every night and got up early to crawl into her bed first thing every morning.

John hoped that would continue when he and Percy started sleeping in the same room, which might not be long now.

It all depended on what she said tonight.

“I want to go on the Ferris wheel again,” Peyton whined as they headed across the street to the hotel. “Two times isn’t enough.”

“No whining,” John said. “If you’re good, we’ll go back to the carnival again before it leaves town. We’ve still got four days before Christmas.”

“Please be good, then, Peyton.” Percy swung their joined hands. “Because I need to go on the Ferris wheel at least three more times.”

“Four!” Peyton said, jumping onto the curb.

“Five,” Percy countered, grinning down at his son, the love in her eyes taking John’s breath away. He was so grateful for her good heart, for the love they’d found, and for the happiness that had enveloped the family like an impenetrable shield this past month, keeping the darkness in the world from getting too close.

Even when he and Percy met with Chief Wyatt to read Clint’s confession—a horror story detailing the ten women he’d killed, starting with Hope Partridge and ending with Lily—they’d managed to keep the horror from following them home. Clint was going to be tried for multiple counts of murder, the Wheeler boys were being held in prison awaiting trial as accessories to two of those killings, and Lily and the other innocents who had lost their lives were finally going to have justice.

It didn’t make Lily’s death any less tragic—especially considering she hadn’t been cheating on him, the way Clint’s other victims had been cheating on their husbands or boyfriends. It was the reason the man had given to justify his crimes, but nothing could justify what he’d done, and no jury in the world would go easy on him. Bare minimum, Clint was going to spend the rest of his life in jail and there was symmetry in that.

John would always miss Lily, but he was moving on, letting love soften his hard edges, and letting Percy remind him of all the songs his heart had forgotten how to sing.

And to teach him some new songs, too. She was that type of woman, the kind who challenged him, tested the limits of his occasionally narrow thinking, and made him laugh harder than he thought he ever would again.

It was time to pop the question. A part of him had known he and Percy were meant to be from the moment she’d refused to be cowed by his bad manners that morning at the old spring—and he was sure she’d say yes. Mostly sure, anyway.

So why was he so damned nervous?

By the time they’d finished dropping the boys with Layla—giving Peyton and Carter stern instructions to be good on their overnight at Uncle Cole’s house—and started back down the steps to the hotel, his palms were sweating. By the time he and Percy added their names to the long list of diners waiting to get into the Ticklish Iguana, his stomach was flip-flopping so hard he knew there was no way he could wait until after they ate.

“What do you say we go ride the Ferris wheel again?” he said, pulling the two tickets he’d saved out of his jeans’ pockets. “Just you and me?”

Percy’s eyes flashed, but after a moment she shook her head. “We can’t. Peyton would never forgive us.”

“What Peyton doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” John said. “And we need to do something to keep ourselves entertained while we wait for a table.”

She grinned. “All right. I give in. My honor is no match for my need to ride more rides.”

He laughed as she looped her arm through his and they started back toward the square. “If you’d asked me when we first met, I would have said you were way too classy to be an amusement park addict.”

“You also thought I was graceful,” Percy said, winking up at him. “Shows what you know. You’re a bad judge of character and we’re going to Disney World as soon as I can convince you to let me buy the tickets.”

John turned to her as they took their place at the end of the line for the Ferris wheel. “I’m thinking seriously about it.”

“Think less seriously about it,” Percy said, wrapping her arms around his waist. “It’s just money. I have plenty of it and there is nothing I would rather spend it on than a vacation with my three favorite people.”

“You’re my favorite person, too.” John’s pulse beat faster as he leaned down to claim her lips for a slow, sensual kiss, loving it when she made one of her soft, hungry sounds in response.

By the time they pulled apart, the line was moving and a few moments later they were settling into the last free gondola. This Ferris wheel was smaller than the one at the Harvest Fair—it had to be to fit into the square and still leave room for the other rides—but it was a beautiful machine. The wooden gondolas were hand carved and brightly colored lights lined the frame, casting Percy’s happy face in red and green splashes of color as the operator pushed the lever and they sailed backward, then up and over the top. At the pinnacle, they were granted such a picture perfect view of the fair below them and Main Street beyond that John did his best to imprint it into his mind. He wanted to savor every moment of this night, store away mental snapshots he could flip through in years to come when he was remembering the day he asked Percy to be his wife.

He treasured the silvery sound of her laughter as they picked up speed, the smell of her shampoo drifting around them as the wind whipped her hair into his face, and the feel of her body warm against his as she gripped his arm tight. He tucked each memory away in the room in his heart that belonged to Percy, and when the ride stopped, and their gondola was left drifting gently back and forth at the top while the other passengers disembarked, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small, black box.

He turned to Percy, but she was looking the other way, searching for something in her purse. Not wanting to miss this perfect moment, he cleared his throat to get her attention. When she still didn’t turn, he said, “Hey, Spooky. I have something I want to show you.”

“Me too,” she said, a triumphant sound escaping her lips as she found what she was looking for. She turned back to him, her eyes widening before she started laughing like a ring box sitting in his hand was the funniest thing she’d ever seen.

“Not the response I was hoping for,” he said, unable to keep from laughing with her. “But if that’s your way of saying yes, I’ll take it.”

“It’s my way of saying great minds think alike.” She lifted her hand, showing him the red jewelry box sitting in the center of her palm. “I got this for you a week ago, but I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment.” She opened the box, revealing a thick silver ring.

John’s chest tightened with wonder as he opened his box, showing off the emerald ring he’d searched everywhere for. “I got this three days ago. I know most people go for diamonds, but I wanted something the color of your eyes.”

Percy’s smile widened and her eyes began to shine. “It’s beautiful. I love it.”

“I love you,” John said, breath rushing out as the wheel jerked into motion and they spun closer to the ground before stopping again. He reached out, taking her hand, wanting his ring on her finger before they stepped off the ride. “Will you marry me, Percy, and let me spend however long I’ve got left making you happy? Because I don’t ever want to wake up to a day without you in it.”

“Me either,” she said, lips pressing together as she sniffed. “And the answer is yes, on one condition.”

“Anything,” he said, adrenaline dumping into his blood stream as he realized he was seconds from sliding his ring on her finger.

“That you promise not to be upset about what I’m going to tell you,” she said, excitement and anxiety mixing in her expression. “Because I couldn’t be happier.”

John nodded, his smile slipping. “Okay. I’ll try.”

“Not try, promise,” Percy insisted. “This requires a promise.”

“Then I promise,” John said, praying it was one he’d be able to keep.

“Good. Well, you remember our first time? When we forgot to use something?”

He nodded slowly, stomach clenching as the ride lurched into motion again before stopping just a few feet above the heads of the crowd waiting below.

Percy nodded back, a big smile spreading across her face as she said in a rush, “So I’m pregnant! I found out last week. Turns out my baby sensing powers don’t work on myself so we’re going to have to wait until the ultrasound to find out if it’s a boy or a girl.”

She took a breath, watching him expectantly, her smile fading as he remained silent, his mouth opening and closing but no words coming out. “The fish face isn’t what I was hoping for,” she said. “But as long as it means you’re happy, I’ll take it.”

“I’m so happy,” John said, finally able to speak past the lump in his throat. He pulled Percy into a fierce hug. “So happy. And the boys are going to out of their minds excited. Peyton’s been begging for a baby brother or sister since he was four years old.”

“They’re going to be the best big brothers,” Percy said, pulling away from the embrace and reaching for his finger. “Now let me get this ring on you. I don’t want to walk off the ride until it’s official.”