Total pages in book: 185
Estimated words: 180510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 903(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 602(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 903(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 602(@300wpm)
“We’re fishing again?” I say when he pulls up to the dock in the secluded cove where we were a little over an hour earlier.
Colten says nothing. Instead, he plucks me from the car and carries me to the water’s edge.
Off with my shirt and my shorts.
“Colten …” I glance around, buck naked.
“Can you stand?”
I nod.
He releases me and removes his clothes. Then he scoops me up again and carries me into the water. I stiffen as the cool water covers my body.
“What are we doing?” I giggle.
“You wanted in the water. So I’m giving you the water.” His lips find mine, sharing a slow kiss before he releases me. “I’ll give you everything, as long as you promise to stay.”
Live. As long as I promise to live.
I straighten my body. Arms relaxed. Legs supple. Ears in the water bestowing peace again. I gaze up at the fluffy clouds outlined in blue and then close my eyes and float.
Exist.
Draw breath from this life.
Draw strength from the only person who has always set me free. And I always … always find my way back to him.
I find my way home.
EPILOGUE
A year later …
“I’m not going to lie. I’m a little intimidated,” Dr. Gellhaus says on my first day as Deputy Medical Examiner for Johnson County in Iowa City.
I laugh, taking a seat at the conference table to go over the one case for the day.
One case.
She already determined the other three don’t require autopsies.
Things are a little slower here than in Chicago.
“Intimidated?” I question my superior.
“Yes.” She sits across from me. “Dr. Cornwell was my mentor as well. But he never called me the best. He never said he learned anything from me. He never called me special.”
I feel an invisible fist clenching my heart. It’s been a long year of recovery. I wasn’t sure I’d get here. And I never imagined here would be anywhere but Chicago.
When Katy and Sean decided to move to Iowa City, Colten didn’t think twice. He insisted we follow Reagan, even though it’s only a four-hour drive. I was on the cusp of begging Dr. Cornwell for my old job. The timing was undeniably perfect.
“I’m flattered.” I smile, a little unsure of myself. Will I bring the same level of expertise now that so much has changed in my life?
“Have you taught before?”
I shake my head. This new job includes a clinical professor position at the University of Iowa.
“You have a gift, Dr. Watts. Go share it,” Dr. Cornwell said when I visited with him just before the move.
“I’m sure you saw a lot in Chicago. Lots of stories to share.”
A tiny smile curls my lips. She has no idea.
Six hours later, I’m home. Home before five on a Monday. I might like this new job.
“Mommy’s home. How’s my baby?” I deposit my bag inside the back door and hunch down to nuzzle my nose into Artemis’s neck, taking a deep inhale. She’s the reason I don’t mind short workdays. I get to be with her before Colten’s off work. We get our special girl time. “Let’s take a walk before Daddy gets home. What do you think?”
Her fluffy golden retriever tail whips side to side while she licks my face.
After an hour walk, I shower, make dinner, and wait for Colten. His new detective position is nearly as sleepy as my new job, but that means he has time to coach Reagan’s rec softball team. It means we eat dinner together nearly every night. It means we get sunset bike rides and lots of time to fish on the weekends.
I rarely think about Winston Jeffries. Colten was right. I was him, but he isn’t me. I’m the quirky girl who fell for the popular boy. I’m still fascinated by death. I love climbing trees and finding a shady spot to read. And … I love being kissed by Colten Mosley. The best things never change.
“Tell me you’re going to be under my naked body without telling me you’re going to be under my naked body,” Colten says from the deck door behind me while I sip sweet tea and read my book, occasionally gazing into the trees of our wooded lot.
I grin, setting my drink and book aside before standing.
His gaze roves along my body covered in a thin, flowing cotton sundress. Nothing underneath but my naked body.
“What makes you think you’re going to be on top, Coach Mosley?”
Colten smirks.
I love that he leaves the house in a suit and tie and returns in jogging shorts and a tee.
“Did you walk her?” He leans down to scratch Artemis’s head.
“I did.”
“Dinner smells amazing.”
I grin. “It does.”
His teeth scrape along his bottom lip while his gaze takes another trip along my body. “Will it keep warm for a bit?”
I saunter toward him. “It will. But I’m hungry now.”