Page 43 of The Love Fix (The Sunrise Cove #8)

If the first rumbly growl hadn’t stopped her heart, the second and third most definitely did. Oh shit. This was it. This was

how she went out. Except... “No, wait! I made mistakes! It wasn’t a good run, I need another chance!”

Heavy breathing emanated from the bushes now, and she shivered. Aliens... or coyotes? And did she really want to know?

She didn’t want to be taken back to the mother ship and probed, but she also didn’t want to be torn limb from limb and devoured.

Very slowly, she looked down at her precious bag of chips. Four left. Making the sacrifice, she threw one of them into the

bush as far as she could.

There was a frenzy of snarls and yips.

With a shudder, she chucked the entire bag as well. And when that still wasn’t enough, she yanked off one of her boots and

pitched that.

Something yelped, and she gave a small smile of satisfaction. “You think that’s rough, my hide is even rougher! Trust me,

you don’t want a piece of this!”

“Lexi?”

At the sound of Ashley’s voice coming from somewhere behind her, she whirled and peered over her shoulder, blinking in the harsh headlights of a car she hadn’t heard coming.

“Ash?” she called out, then nearly collapsed with relief at the sight of her sister appearing out of the halo from the headlights.

She could admit she’d hoped against hope Heath might’ve come as well, but when she burned bridges, she burned bridges .

That Ashley had come in spite of that, when she had absolutely zero obligation to Lexi in any way, shape, or form, just about

did her in. “Wait! Stop! Get back in the car, there’re coyotes— Well, they could be aliens, I haven’t actually seen their

faces—”

Instead of running back, Ashley jumped up onto the hood with Lexi.

Lexi gaped at her. “Are you nuts? You could have been eaten!”

“By the coyotes? Nah. They don’t bother people much.”

“And if it’s aliens?”

Ashley looked around them uneasily. “I couldn’t leave you out here.”

“I’d have followed you!”

“I wasn’t taking any chances.” Ashley looked around. “Why aren’t you in the truck?”

“Oh, because it’s a lovely night, not too warm, not too cold, and I wanted to enjoy it.”

Ashley gave her a get-real look.

“Fine.” Lexi grimaced, then admitted, “I managed to lock myself out.” She drew a deep breath.

Here went everything. “First, thank you for having chips. Those were invaluable, even if they didn’t have enough salt.

Second, thank you for coming for me. You didn’t have to do that, but you did.

Because you care about me. I know that, and now.

.. now I need you to know that you’re the sister of my heart.

” She put a hand to her own chest, right over the ache.

“I should never have let you doubt that. I’m sorry.

I’m so sorry for all the things I said to you when I was hungry—”

Ashley let out a soggy laugh and swiped at her face. “You’re an idiot.”

“Wait. Why are you crying?”

“Because you’re crying! It’s contagious!”

“I’m not crying.” Lexi put a hand to her face. “Ohmigod. What’s happening? My face is wet, my eyes won’t stop streaming...

Who’s cutting onions all the way out here?”

Ashley sniffled. “You’re doing it again, being funny and sarcastic in order to avoid an emotional confrontation.”

Lexi wiped her face on her sleeve. “It’s an illness.”

“No, it’s perfect.” Ashley threw her arms around her and hugged her tight. “Because now I know it’s real. Thank you for that.”

“You might wanna hold off on the thanking me due to the impending and aforementioned getting eaten or probed. Also...”

Lexi hesitated. “There’s something else.”

The smile dropped off Ashley’s face. “There is,” her sister agreed. “And it’s that I owe you an apology too. I never should

have said those things to you at the ice cream parlor. I—”

“Of course you should have said them. Because you meant them.”

Ashley reached for Lexi’s hand. “Okay, I did. But I didn’t have to throw them at you like that. I didn’t have to make you

feel like you were alone. I should have said it all calmly in a conversation from the very beginning. That way we could’ve

been working on our relationship the whole time. Instead, I held it all in until it burst out of me.”

Lexi gave a rough laugh. “It’s like we’re blood after all.”

Ashley squeezed her hand. “Sometimes being blood related is overrated. Sometimes being the family you make is where it’s at.”

“If you keep that up, I’m going to keep crying.” Lexi met her sister’s gaze. “While I sat here waiting to die—”

“Or get beamed up...”

“Yeah, but I think they’ve moved off now. I don’t hear any of the creepy breathing.” Lexi felt her smile slip away. “While

I was out here, I realized something. I’ve been in a holding pattern for a very long time, waiting on life to find me. And

I think... I think maybe you’ve been doing the same.”

“Are you suggesting you aren’t the only screwed-up one? That maybe I took that air aerobics class because I was looking for

something?”

Lexi grimaced. “Yes?”

Ashley gave a wry smile. “It’s true. I love my job, as much as the other things I do, but I’m very aware that something’s

still... missing.”

Lexi reached out for her hand. “When I thought tonight might be my very last on earth, it occurred to me that I had nothing

to show for it. I was definitely missing something, but I figured out what.”

“You did?”

Lexi nodded. “I’ve been waiting for some sort of fulfillment to find me. I think I need to go after it.”

“How?”

“I’m a little murky on that part,” she admitted. “But I think for me, it involves a new start. Like running my own business.

And...”

Ashley didn’t appear to be breathing. “And?”

“Annnnd, I was thinking Sunrise Cove might be the place to do it.”

“Don’t you tease me.”

Lexi smiled. “I’m not.”

“You mean we can be each other’s ride-or-die?”

“I mean, maybe. But I’ve always had questions about ride-or-dies. Like, where are we riding to? And do we have to die? Can

we get food on the way?”

Ashly laughed and threw her arms around Lexi.

“I’m missing the party.”

Lexi froze at the calm male voice. Heath, who’d just gotten out of the car. She pulled back to look at him. “You came too.”

Heath’s gaze ran the length of Lexi, clearly checking her for injuries. The worry in his eyes didn’t abate when he didn’t

find anything bleeding or missing. Except... “Where’s your boot?”

She gave a rueful smile. “Threw it at whatever was growling at me in the bushes. You came,” she breathed again.

“Of course he did,” Ashley said. “He was with me when you called. He’d been sitting on our couch staring at our two phones,

hoping you’d contact one of us. He suspected it’d be me, because I’d be easier to face. Turned out he was right.”

Lexi winced. She knew she needed to try and make things right, even if she failed. But even now, that persistent fear of not

being lovable enough to keep reared its ugly head. “I didn’t get any calls before I lost reception.”

“Because I didn’t call,” Heath said quietly. “It had to be your decision, Lex. To go. Or... stay.”

She jerked in shocked surprise, looking first to Ashley, and then to Heath, not making any attempt to hide their devastation.

“You... you both thought I’d left. For good.”

Neither spoke, and her heart cleaved in half. “Some investigators you guys are,” she said in what she hoped was a teasing tone. “I wasn’t leaving. I was... thinking. I didn’t take any of my stuff. I also drove Mom’s truck. I’d never take your only vehicle, Ash.”

Ashley’s eyes filled. “Logical. Unfortunately, I don’t always operate in that area.” She gripped Lexi’s hand. “And you’re

allowed to... think.”

“Thank you?”

Ashley smiled, then glanced at Heath. “For what it’s worth, he wanted to come after you the minute you’d left. But he didn’t

want to pressure you. I thought he was going to go gray on that couch, waiting to hear from you.”

“Ash,” Heath said softly.

“Yeah?”

“Give us a moment?”

“Oh. Sure.” With a grin, she hopped off the hood. “Yell for me if I’m needed.” And with that, she ran back to Heath’s car.

Heath watched her go, not turning back to Lexi until Ashley had shut the door.

“You don’t trust her to not listen?” Lexi asked, finding a small amusement, even as her heart pounded in her ears with nerves.

“I don’t trust her to not get eaten.” His gaze met hers and held. “Or probed.”

She snorted, and something deep inside her warmed. Please don’t have given up on me... “I can’t believe you thought I’d left.”

He gave her a look.

“Okay,” she admitted. “I guess I can believe it. Does it help to know that I have zero intention of taking my old job back?”

That won her an almost smile. “I hope you tell them where to shove it.”

“I plan to.” She hesitated. “I don’t know how to do this,” she whispered, gesturing between them.

“I’m no better at it than you.” He reached for one of her hands, wrapping his around it and running the pad of a callused

thumb over her knuckles. “But I’m willing to throw everything I have at this, at us. There are things I should’ve told you,

about why I’m so bad at sharing myself. About why I did the things I did when it came to Daisy. And you.” He paused, and gave

a rare tell by shoving his hands through his hair, pushing it back. “My mom died after being struck crossing a street by a

fifteen-year-old kid who’d stolen a car. She was gone before she hit the asphalt. My dad had always been a drinker, but suddenly

being responsible for two kids, when up until this point he’d pretty much ignored us, it took its toll. Cole was five.” He

swallowed hard, pausing. “And things...”

“Got bad?” she whispered.

He nodded. “By the time a few years had passed, we were all living with Gus and I was sneaking Cole out of his bed and into

Daisy’s house. She gave him a bedroom and mothered him half to death, but he was safe.”

“What about you?” she whispered.