Page 23 of Watch Me

This wasn’t how I pictured life would be when Ethan and I dated before, but now that we were back together, I wouldn’t changeanything.

Iwasn’t nervous for Reagan to see my family again. They knew she had broken my heart, but I also knew they’d liked her when we were kids. People grow, we change, we move on. That was clear when it came to how I felt about Jessica. Sure, she was my sons’ mother, but what I’d felt for Jess was nothing compared to what I’d felt or still feel for Reagan.

Once a month, my family made sure to have dinner together, and because I had the boys on Wednesday nights, we tried to make it that night of the week. Sometimes Rhys missed them if there was a Blackhawks’ game, or even Carter if he had a surgery or something, but for the most part, we were able to gettogether.

I wanted to add one more person to that familydinner.

“Hey, Mom,”I’d said when I had called her on Mondaymorning.

“Hey, sweetie. Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I was calling to—to tell you that I’m bringing more than the boys to dinner on Wednesday.”

“Oh?”she’dbreathed.

“Remember Reagan?”

“Reagan Hunter?”She hadn’t skipped abeat.

I’d smiled.“Well, she has a different last name now.”

“Because she’s married?”

“Divorced.”

“Oh?”she’d said again. This time I’d detected a hint of hope in her voice, and I was put atease.

“We’re um … dating again.”

She’d inhaled a sharp breath.“You are?”

I’d smiled and confirmed. “We are.”

“I’m so happy for you,”she’d gushed.“I can’t wait to see her again.”

“We’ll be there for Wednesday dinner.”

“All right.” I stood from my desk and grabbed my suit jacket. “I’ll see you in the morning,” I stated toShawn.

He looked at his watch. “Shit. I didn’t realize it was already five.”

We’d been working every hour on duty trying to solve Amy’s case, but we still had nothing. We were hoping a witness would come forward, but nothing had happened yet, and the webcam traces had led to nothing. The person—or people—was just too good at masking their actual location, and none of the IP addresses were linked to any leads.

“When do I get to meet her?”

I had started to head to the door, but Shawn’s question stopped me. I turned to face him. “Who? Reagan?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

I smirked. “Monday.”

“What’s happening Monday?”

Oh, right. With everything going on, I’d apparently forgotten to tell him about the ride-along. Plus, the weeks had flown by. “I’m taking her on a ride-along.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, you want to tag along too?”