Page 57 of Duress (Birch Falls #3)

DANE

“ Y o, Roberts, you ready to go? I don’t want to be late!

” I stand from my desk the second I finish submitting the last of my arrest reports for the day, eager to get going.

I’m in a hurry. Tonight is the ribbon cutting for Ever After, Everly’s new passion project, and she will kill me if I’m late.

I promised I would pick up the gluten-free, nut-free, allergy-friendly cupcakes for the reception.

It’s the least I can do, since Ever has been working long hours going straight from her day job at Whispering Grove, to cleaning, organizing and painting the small building located in the heart of downtown Birch Falls, while I’ve been splitting my time between working and getting my Bachelor’s in social work, with a focus in community outreach.

I look around for my partner and see her in Sargent Randall’s office.

Judging by her tense body language and the jut of her chin as she stares down Randall, Serena isn’t happy.

Immediately, I know this is Randall pawning a case off on her that he doesn’t want to handle.

He’s been doing this for months now, sending Serena on calls that he deems unimportant and lower priority, doing his best to discourage Serena from continuing on with her career with the Birch Falls PD.

Randall is old school, and he is everything wrong with our justice system.

I decide to rescue Serena from Randall’s patronizing, and head across the bullpen to retrieve her.

I knock once on the door before opening it, interrupting the standoff happening between Serena and Randall. “Roberts, it’s quitting time. Ready to go?”

Randall cuts his glare toward me, clearly not thrilled with my interruption. Serena nods and moves like she’s going to follow me, but Randall speaks up, halting her in her tracks.

“Actually, I was just telling Office Roberts there is a call she needs to respond to. A man called in claiming his wife is ‘missing’. It’s probably just some dumb bastard who won’t admit his wife is cheating on him.

” Randall’s tone strives for indolent and long-suffering, but I can tell there is an edge of challenge to it too.

If Serena had hackles, they would be raised right now.

A lesser man would be cowed by the glare she is directing his way.

Clearly Randall see this assignment as beneath him and a punishment for Serena for whatever insubordination he thinks she’s guilty of.

“Shift’s over, Boss. Can’t one of swing shift guys handle it?

” I interject, trying to keep the peace and get Serena out of there so she won’t miss Everly’s big night.

She’s been there helping when I haven’t been able to, and I know this is as important to her as it is to me.

She’s been integral in helping Everly and Bethany with the community outreach aspect of Ever After, and she deserves to be there to help celebrate.

Ever After is going to be a small studio that specializes in providing therapy through art for teens, young adults and women who have experienced intimate partner violence.

The idea came about after Bethany, the Director at Whispering Grove, and seed investor for Ever After, realized how well Everly’s approach of combining art with therapy worked for the residents on site, and thought it would fill a need in the community for at risk youth.

Years prior, Bethany experienced the loss of a nephew to suicide after years of struggling with addiction and depression, unable to find the resources needed to help improve his mental health.

Since then she had been searching for a way to help kids in similar situations.

Everly also wanted to be a resource for women who had been through similar experiences to hers, so together they came up with Ever After .

Mental health specialists are hard to come by on a good day, even more so when children are involved.

When Everly told me about what she and Bethany wanted to do, it ignited a desire in me to do more.

To really help the people that need it the most, and not just keep upholding a broken system built on the backs of the disenfranchised and oppressed.

I went into police work because I needed a job and wanted to help, but quickly became jaded at the power imbalance and use of police resources to uphold white supremacy that has been baked into our justice system for the last century.

Sure, I helped put Dominick Reeves away, but how many more of him are out there?

How many more Bryce Carmichaels are out there helping men like Dominick get away with their crimes?

After a strained moment where Randall and Serena ignore my clumsy attempt to break up the tension, Serena huffs out a frustrated sigh, “Go on, Dane. I’ll catch up after handling this.”

“But—”

“I said, go on. I’ll handle this call that Sargent Randall has deemed himself too important to go on, then I’ll see you at the reception.

” Serena’s tone is icy, and I know her wrath is directed at the superior officer in front of her.

Serena has tried her best to talk me into staying on the force, to help her with her mission of creating change from within, to fight against men like Randall, but she has her calling and I have mine.

And mine is building a brand new future with Everly while helping as many people as we can.

I can see that Serena’s mind is made up, so I jerk a nod and back toward the exit, unwilling to risk being late myself.

Tonight is too important, and I have more than one stop to make on the way to the ribbon cutting.

“Alright, I’ll tell Everly you’re still coming.” As I turn to leave, Serena calls out a warning .

“Don’t you dare do it before I get there.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Roberts.” I bite back a grin as I think about the surprise I have planned for later.

“Thank you everyone for coming out tonight to help celebrate the opening of Ever After. This is the culmination of countless hours of working during every second of free time, to breathe new life into this decrepit old building, creating a safe haven for the most vulnerable of us in our time of need.” I’m standing next to Everly as she addresses the crowd gathered in front of us.

A few dozen of Birch Fall’s most prominent citizens—local leaders, business owners, and teachers—along with our friends and family, are here to celebrate.

I scan the crowd to see if Serena has arrived, and I spot her near the door, still in uniform, standing between Kai and my mom, her expression soft and beaming with pride.

The stony, resolved officer I left at the station has been replaced with Everly’s best friend, who happens to be soft as a marshmallow and proud as fuck of her.

My heartbeat begins to drum faster as I realize I don’t have to wait any longer to spring my surprise.

Everly gives my hand a squeeze as she turns to look at me, continuing on with her speech.

“I couldn’t have done this without the support of the community; my boss and business partner, Bethany; my friends; and my partner, Dane.

Ever After is proof that good that can come from the darkest moments we are forced to endure.

That our worst moments don’t define us.” Everly chokes up.

Her hazel-green eyes shimmer, bright with tears that do nothing to hide the conflicting emotional cocktail of apology, remorse, and gratitude swirling within them.

She drops the mic so that her next words are just for me. “I love you, Dane. Thank you for being my light.” She leans up and kisses me, sweet, chaste, and crowd-appropriate. It takes all my self-control not to deepen the kiss and to pull away instead, so that I have room to drop to one knee.

Everly’s face is adorable as it morphs from confusion to shock as she realizes what I’m doing. Her right hand flies up to cover her gasp, but I don’t let go of the left one. Instead, I pull out the ring I had tucked into my pocket.

The ring I had to stop and pick up after the metalsmith I worked with to make it, added the finishing touches.

I spent an entire weekend with Kai, three hours away at a DIY make your own engagement ring workshop.

Kai was making a new set of wedding bands for their anniversary, which has already passed, so Serena knows what I was up to.

It’s why she insisted on being present when I proposed.

She said she had to see the ring before she’d let Everly say yes.

“Everly, I may be your light, but you’ve always been mine.

Even when I never saw a way to capture it and make it my own, I cherished the light you brought into the world.

Being with you makes me strive to be a better man every day.

Your strength, courage, empathy, creativity, and kindness inspire me to be the kind of man that deserves to bask in your light.

Will you grant me the privilege of always being in your light? Will you marry me?”

I slip the rose gold band, shaped to look vaguely like a tea rose on a vine, with three Moissanite stones, onto her ring finger.

With the help of Christian, the metalsmith who ran the workshop, I designed and hand-forged the ring myself from start to finish—minus setting the stones and the polishing.

It’s not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but with the way Everly’s eyes light up when she sees the ring you’d think I just gave her the Hope Diamond.

Everly’s head begins to bob frantically as she drops to her knees in front of me, her face devastatingly beautiful, awash in happy tears and the biggest smile she’s ever given me.

Everly leans in and whispers against my lips, the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard, “I’m yours forever, Dane Wilcox.”

EVERLY