Epilogue
Briar’s mouth was moving, but because of the noise-canceling headset he was wearing, Royce couldn’t hear what she was saying. He could, however, read the expression of triumph on her face and see her victory dance as her target swung along the wire toward them. The human silhouette was riddled with holes, all of them centered around the core.
Plus one headshot for good measure.
“Fine, you win,” he mouthed.
Briar read his lips and stuck her tongue out at him. He tugged on her arm and they moved from the shooting zone and out into the lobby of the gun range. Royce pulled his headset off and handed it to Derek, the range manager and owner.
“We should get going, we’re supposed to meet the guys and Evi in a half hour. And Raine’s coming too.”
Briar tugged her headset off, too, and held it out for Derek to put away.
“You just don’t want to lose again,” Briar teased, bumping him with her hip.
He didn’t, not today, but losing to Briar was not an issue.
“We could see who’s been logging his miles while I’ve been out of town working. How about a trail run tomorrow?”
Royce couldn’t help himself and tugged Briar close so he could plant a kiss on that sexy smile, reveling in her enthusiastic response. He had been running, he was in the best shape of his life physically, and mentally, since maybe ever. Briar kept him on his toes, and Royce loved it.
The kiss started turning into… more than a kiss. Briar had been out of town for two weeks and Royce always missed her, even if they talked on the phone or texted almost every day.
“Get a room, you two,” Derek groused. “Ever since you two started coming in here, I’m subjected to way too much damn PDA. It’s a gun range, not a bedroom.” He wiped the headphones down. “Weirdest foreplay ever.”
Royce and Briar separated, laughing. That was another thing. Royce didn’t think he’d ever smiled and laughed as much as he did these days. It felt good. More than good.
It had been just over six months since Briar had waltzed back into Rexville and his life, and Royce didn’t regret a minute of it. Tonight, at the Crown, Royce was popping the question. He was ready for the next step, he wanted Briar to become his full partner-in-life, and he was 99 percent certain she felt the same way.
After spending most of his adult life in the Army, Royce was ready to set down roots and, if not start a human family, at least adopt a bunch of rescue dogs. And he wanted Briar by his side. Briar had made his house a home, perhaps not in the way old Mrs. Butler would approve of, but she’d moved in her boxes of books, filling the shelves with criminology tomes and romance novels.
“What?” she’d said when he’d lifted one with a particularly racy cover out of the box and waggled his eyebrows. “A girl can’t read about murder twenty-four seven.” He thought Briar probably could, but wisely kept that thought to himself.
They’d swapped out the kitchen table he’d bought at IKEA for a handmade Tor Nilson table and chairs, one of the few things that had survived the fire undamaged. Royce had protested, worried that something would happen to it. Briar had assured him that things were supposed to happen to everyday objects. Together, they’d proved it was a very sturdy piece of furniture. Royce thought Tor would be pleased to know his work was solid.
Was the Tainted Crown a weird place to propose? Possibly, but the residents of Rexville and regulars at the tavern all loved Briar and she—amazingly—loved them back.
When she wasn’t working—her transfer to the FBI had been completed about five months ago—Briar was checking out the farmers market, volunteering at the library, and more recently, putting out feelers at the community center to see if there was interest in a scout troop—or in Briar’s case, a kickass group of kids who would get to go hiking, learn to identify local plants (apparently this was something she’d done with her father), and whatever else she came up with.
When he’d raised an eyebrow, Briar had responded with, “I’m not going to teach them how to search an evidence field, sheesh.”
Was he nervous? Only one percent. Bishop, Caleb, Topher, Evi, and everyone else, even Raine and Jordan, were waiting at the Crown. He’d even managed to convince Julianna Alworth to be there, a surprise for Briar. But Royce was still worried. What if he was wrong?
Nothing was going to go wrong, he reassured himself. The ring was tucked safely inside his front pocket. And he’d gone so far as to threaten his two deputies with night shifts for life if they called him in for anything less than a kidnapping. Marnie Jackson would help to make sure they left him alone.
He was still the sheriff, although his tenure would be over soon. Help was on its way in the form of his old Army buddy, Danny Brewer, who was ready to leave his current position in Everett and move to Rexville, taking over from Royce. After several meetings with the Rexville council, the sheriff’s department had been approved to hire the new two deputies and a third was about to be funded. The problem now was qualified applicants—that was also not something he needed to be thinking about today.
“What are you thinking about?” Briar asked.
“Everything,” he replied honestly as they passed the King Security building and closed in on The Tainted Crown.
“So, I’ve been thinking,” Briar began.
“That’s concerning.” Royce’s heart began to beat a little faster, nerves hitting him. “What small country are we taking over? Rescuing a stolen princess?”
“Ha, ha. I think we should get a dog.”
“A dog?” Royce wanted a dog, too. He’d planned on bringing dogs up after asking Briar to marry him. Maybe not today, but soon. “I could see us having a dog.”