Page 10 of Vanishing Point (Bent County Protectors #1)

After Mags woke up from her nap, they packed up a few things and Thomas drove Vi and Magnolia back to his house.

Zach’s truck was still out front when they got there. “Do you mind meeting some friends of mine?”

Vi grimaced, but she nodded. “Oh. Well. Okay.”

They got out of the car, just as Zach was coming out of the front door. He was grappling with his very energetic three-year-old, Cooper.

“Hart. Ma’am.”

“Zach, this is Vi Reynolds. Vi, this is Zach Simmons. A friend of mine, and he has a security business with Cam Delaney, Laurel’s brother.”

“Hi,” Vi offered.

“Nice to meet you, Vi. I’d shake your hand, but if I let him go, he’s going to bolt.”

“I’m a dinosaur!” Cooper shouted. Then gave an impressive roar. Magnolia stared down at him dubiously and clutched onto Vi tighter.

“I checked out the security system,” Zach said, while Cooper grumbled and tried to escape the hold Zach had on him. “Should be able to get everything upgraded by tomorrow. Mostly done through my computer, but Cam or I might need to stop by tomorrow to do some on-site stuff.”

“Thanks, man.”

“Any time.” He wrangled his wriggly toddler. “Lucy’s inside. She wanted to make everything look nice.” Zach rolled his eyes. But as if on cue, Lucy came out the front door and walked up to them.

Vi’s eyes got real wide. It was kind of funny, Lucy had been a fixture around Bent for enough years now that Thomas forgot to a lot of people, she was someone else. Before anyone could make introductions, Vi spoke.

“You’re…Daisy Delaney,” Vi said, clear awe in her tone.

Lucy clearly wasn’t surprised by it. She no doubt got that just about everywhere she went outside of Bent. “I just go by Lucy around here.”

“You… I listen to your…music. All the time.”

“Good to hear,” Lucy said. She stood next to Zach, gave the wriggling toddler one quelling look and Cooper stopped trying to escape his dad’s hold. “And who’s this?” she asked, reaching out and giving Magnolia’s hand a little shake.

Vi looked down at the daughter on her hip. “Magnolia. I… I named her after your song.”

Lucy’s smile widened. “Isn’t that something?” She studied Magnolia in Vi’s arms. “I miss this age. If you can’t tell, our three-year-old is like a human wrecking ball.”

“And just moved to a toddler bed. So they’re letting us borrow some things while you’re staying here,” Thomas said. “Crib. High chair. We should be all set.”

“Oh, well, thank you. I… That’s so nice.”

“No worries.” Lucy patted her tiny baby bump. “We’ll need them back in a few months, but for now, they’re all yours. We’ve had them in storage anyway while we’re redoing our house.”

“We’ll leave you to it, but if you need anything else, let us know,” Zach said. He started moving for his truck, but Lucy didn’t. She pointed at Thomas.

“You’re coming to Cam and Hilly’s baby shower, right?”

Thomas tried not to sigh. “Yeah, if I can swing it.”

“Bring the whole gang,” she said, smiling at Vi and Mags. “The more the merrier. Hope to see you there, Vi.” She had to speak louder with every sentence over Cooper’s roaring.

Magnolia reached out for Thomas, so he took her. She snuggled in. “Not sure Mags was a fan of Cooper,” he said, holding her close. “Come on, sweets,” he walked up to his front door, ushered Vi in.

“I don’t need to go,” Vi said. “To the baby shower,” she added, when it was clear he’d lost the thread.

“Oh, if I’m going, you’re going,” Thomas said.

He’d forgotten about the co-ed baby shower.

His least favorite kind of forced party.

Weddings and adult bridal showers at least usually had some alcoholic social lubricant, and kids’ birthday parties were easy to hide in, what with all the screeching and sugar.

“But I don’t even know these people,” Vi continued.

“Good. Then you won’t leave my side and I can have an excuse not to play one of those horrible baby shower games.”

“Thomas.”

He didn’t quite know why she’d not want to come, except maybe she thought it was a cop thing.

“Cam and Hilly aren’t cops. Zach was FBI, but he just does security now.

Laurel will be there, but I think that’s about it on the cop front.

Cam’s her brother, so she’ll be too sappy to bring up any shop talk. ”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.”

He studied her then. The frustrated look on her face, which poked at his temper when it shouldn’t.

It shouldn’t .

“Then what is?”

She looked up at him, but she didn’t answer his question. “I just don’t think I should go.”

He supposed the fact she wouldn’t give him a real answer made him say what he shouldn’t.

“They’re my friends, Vi. And you’re my…for lack of a more adult word, girlfriend.

I love you. Why wouldn’t you want to be part of my life?

” And he should not be laying that at her feet after the day she’d had.

Before she could say anything, he kept right on, hoping to dig himself out of the hole.

“Look, today’s been a lot. It’s not the day to have this conversation. Let’s have some dinner.” He tried to shake his frustration, and holding on to Magnolia helped. “I don’t have much. Soup?”

Vi was still standing by the door when he looked back at her, but she’d closed it. She didn’t say anything for the longest time. When she finally did, it wasn’t at all what he expected.

“You know Daisy Delaney.”

“Yeah.” She was letting it go. So he smiled at her. “Did I not mention it?”

She scowled at him. “No, you did not.”

“I’ve got all sorts of surprises up my sleeve, Vi.”

She grunted, then came over to him. “I’ll handle dinner since you’ve handled just about everything else.”

He would have argued, but it seemed like she needed it. And he understood. The desire to do something when feeling helpless. He entertained Mags while Vi made them dinner. Then they sat down and ate together.

Which wasn’t the first time. They’d been doing this a lot. But out at the ranch. Out in her space, with her family. This was his home and it made it feel like…

They were a family. Which was too soon, he knew. Vi had a lot to work through, and he could be patient.

But it still wound through him like pain, how much he wanted this to be his life.

They bathed Mags, put her to bed. Since Magnolia’s crib was set up in his bedroom, they made out on the couch in the living room watching a movie like they were teenagers again.

There was something kind of fun about that.

About forgetting the ugliness she’d been through and just being their old selves for a tiny sliver of time.

When they went to bed, Vi snuggled in next to him like she belonged there. In this life he’d built for himself over the past fifteen years. He wanted that to be the only thing he thought about.

He watched her sleep for a while, trying to see this—the beautiful woman she was, who loved him enough and trusted him enough to let him protect her.

But instead, all he dreamed about were those pictures.

V I WOKE UP in a foreign bed, late morning sunlight streaming through the curtains. She sat bolt upright in bed, Thomas’s bed. The crib in the corner was empty, and she looked at the clock.

“Ten?” she screeched. She practically raced out of the bedroom, then skidded to a halt at the sight that greeted her.

Thomas was in the kitchen. He had his work khakis on, but no shirt. One of his county polos was draped over the back of a chair.

He had Magnolia on his hip, bouncing her while she smiled and babbled. The highchair was a mess, so Mags had clearly eaten.

“I did not learn my lesson,” he offered to her over his shoulder. “My shirt got peach smushed. Coffee’s up.”

It was like…all those things she’d imagined married life would be. It was all those things she’d wanted, so much so she’d ignored her intuition over and over again when it came to Eric.

And here it was, in her high school boyfriend. In all the simple things she probably would have scoffed at fifteen years ago. Letting her sleep in. Coffee made. Baby taken care of.

And she wasn’t eighteen, or even twenty-four anymore. She was a mother in her thirties. She’d been through hell. And hell wasn’t over yet.

But she had to be the one to end it. Once and for all. So she could enjoy all this glorious simple.

She crossed to him, wrapped her arms around him. Enjoyed the strength she found there—physical and otherwise. “I love you very much.”

He wound his arm around her, kissed her head. “Well, I love you too.”

“And if there’s anything I need to do. Answer questions. Get those police reports from Richmond.” She swallowed hard at the way her throat closed up at the next suggestion. “Go through each and every one of those pictures with you. Whatever I can do to end this, I will do it. I’m ready to do it.”

He studied her a long time, then ran his free hand over her hair. “I’m glad to hear it. Right now, you’re just going to sit tight and let me do my job. Okay?”

She nodded, leaned into him. “Okay.”

“I’m going to go into the precinct, check up on those prints.

The return address. A few other things. Franny is already on her way to hang with you today.

I want you to stay close, but don’t feel like a prisoner.

I’ll show you both how to work the security system before I leave. And I’m only a phone call away.”

He handed Magnolia off, who wasn’t happy with the transfer at all. “Tata!”

“Gotta clean up the mess you made out of me, sweets.” Then he gave her a loud kiss on her cheek and disappeared into his bedroom.

For a moment, Vi let herself believe this could be her life. If she could be strong. If she could keep the promises she was making to Thomas.

This could be everything.

The doorbell rang, and Vi opened it up to Franny. Mags squealed in delight and Franny grabbed her enthusiastically. They babbled nonsense at each other, their favorite greeting, and when Thomas came out of the room, he was dressed for work.

He walked Franny and her through his security system, then gave her and Mags a kiss and was off. Vi stood in the doorway watching him go.

When he was out of earshot, she said what the little voice in her head kept insisting. “Am I stupid for trusting him, Franny?”

“You’d be stupid not to, Vi. He’s great. He loves you and Mags. And he’s going to do everything to protect you. What more could you ask for?”

“What if it’s all too good to be true?”

“Seems like if anyone has earned a little too good to be true, it’s you. Besides, your ex-husband is harassing you. That’s not good.”

“No.” She closed the door, turned to the living room, Franny by her side. “I’m sorry you’re getting dragged into this. You have work to do, I know.”

“Are you kidding?” Franny rubbed her hands together. “This is great research. I’m going to poke around his house and see how a real detective lives.”

“You can’t snoop.”

“Why not?”

“Because…” Vi was sure there were a lot of good reasons why not, but she couldn’t think of a one.

“Like, what does a detective keep in his fridge? Am I going to find a Glock hidden in the freezer?”

“I hope not,” Vi muttered, watching as Franny went right over to the fridge and looked through its contents.

Vi got out her phone. Opened a text to Thomas. She didn’t want him coming home tonight and angry about someone touching and moving his things.

Franny is snooping around your house for research.

His response was almost immediate. That’s okay. Nothing to hide. Except in my underwear drawer.

Something inside of her eased, and she realized she sometimes—without realizing it—still expected him to react like Eric would. Which wasn’t fair, and she hated that it still snuck up on her.

She typed her response firmly, wanting to focus on Thomas and Thomas alone. And what’s in your underwear drawer?

Guess you’ll have to snoop and find out.

She didn’t. She wasn’t going to. She trailed after Franny while Franny went through his kitchen drawers, bathroom cabinets. While she complained about how normal his stuff was.

And then, when Franny had settled herself in Thomas’s office, Vi quietly left the room and went to Thomas’s bedroom with Magnolia on her hip.

“He basically told me to,” she said to Mags. She carefully opened the top drawer of his dresser. Maybe it was a joke. Maybe…

But there in the far corner was a little prayer book, of all things. When she opened it up, she saw the inscription. To Thomas, From Grandma. His Grandma Hart had been very religious. She’d passed away their senior year, and Thomas had been devastated. Vi remembered going to the funeral.

It was one of the few times she’d thought staying in Bent wouldn’t be so bad. To be part of a community that rallied around, that grieved together. Then she’d gone home that night to her mom, who was passed out drunk while one of her boyfriends rifled through her purse.

She’d only thought about getting out from there after that.

Magnolia reached out and swatted the book. “Gentle,” Vi said quietly.

She didn’t think this was what he’d been talking about in his text. Not when she flipped through the pages and a picture fell out.

Their senior prom picture. Her terrible eyeliner, his baby face. But so ridiculously in love. So happy.

“Ma,” Magnolia said, bouncing happily.

Tears filled Vi’s eyes, but she blinked them back. “Yes, that’s Mama. And Tata.”

Because Franny was right.

They all deserved a little too good to be true.