“I want to thank you for everything,” she said. “For catching David’s killer. For endangering your life.”

“Most people would have done the same thing,” he said. “Anybody decent.”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t go dark on me,” he said with a bit of a teasing smile. But she could see the worry in his eyes. Knowing that she’d mostly likely come to tell him goodbye again.

He began peeling the paper from the cupcake, slowly, giving it much more attention than it deserved. Then he lifted the dessert to his mouth and took a bite. His eyes widened in surprise.

“You like it? It has buttered rum and cayenne pepper in it.”

He wiped a tiny bit of blue frosting from his lip. “I’m not sure what I think about it.” His brow crinkled in puzzlement. “I think I like it.” He took another bite, letting the flavor dissolve in his mouth.

“The frosting also has a little zing,” she said.

“It looks so innocent.”

“I know. Right?”

“Wanna taste?” He held it out, and she took a bite.

He laughed. She wasn’t sure why he laughed, but she liked the sound.

“The frosting is good too,” he said. “So fluffy.”

They finished off the cupcake. Then it was time for Melody to move on to the next step. And it was a big one.

“I wanted to tell you something.” She stood in the middle of the kitchen. He was leaning against the counter.

“I would never want you to give up who you are for me. I love that you made the offer and were willing to leave something you love, something you’re good at, for me. But it would never work.”

He opened his mouth to protest.

She kept talking. “You’d end up resenting me. And then you might even start to hate me. And you…you would no longer be you. So no, that won’t work. That’s nothing we should even consider.”

His shoulders dropped, and his chin dropped. And for a moment, he wouldn’t look at her. When he finally did, she saw the tears in his eyes and understood how much he loved her, and understood how much he’d been willing to sacrifice for her.

“The cupcake was good,” he said forlornly.

She laughed. She couldn’t help it. Because she finally knew her heart and her head. She wasn’t the kind of person to shut herself away and shut herself off from the people she loved. That wasn’t her.

“I want you in my life,” she said in the most straightforward way possible.

“You mean like friends? Like the letting-the-guy-down-easy thing? We’ll always be friends? It’s not you, it’s me? Because really, I’m not falling for that. Sorry.”

“No, more than friends. Let’s go back to the you and me of before. The you and me and Max of before I knew you were a cop. Let’s go back there. But this time I’ll know. I can’t say I’ll be…well, happy with it. But it will be okay. And I will be proud of you. And I will be happy for you. Yes, I will worry. Every second you are gone. But I’ll distract myself. With work. With Max. With cupcakes and costumes. And books.”

A light appeared behind the shimmer of tears in his green eyes. He pulled her into his arms, and his mouth came down on hers, and she felt like a princess who’d found her prince. And when he was done thoroughly kissing her, she pulled back so she could look at him, so she could read his face. “Do you love me?” she asked with a directness that came from her soul. “Because I love you.”

He smiled a slow smile. “You know I do.”

“Then say it.”

“No.”

“Ha!”

“I’ll say it when I’m good and ready.”

“I don’t need to hear the words anyway.” But she did.

“Maybe I want you to beg,” he said.

“I never beg.”

“I love everything about you. The way your hair smells. Your laugh. Your feet. Your clothes. Your cupcakes. Your smell. Oh, I already said that. Your joy. I need your joy. Is that enough?”

She smiled, waiting.

And then his face became serious. “I love you. You know that.”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Good.”

She took his hand. She brought it to her lips. She kissed his knuckles, then looked up at him. “Let’s go tell Max.”

Chapter 21

Sunday morning and all was well in Max’s world. Joe and Melody were slowly waking up, and Max was lying on top of Joe’s clothes, which were in a pile on the floor, right in the sun. That perfect patch of sunlight that felt so good. In a few more minutes Max would begin to get annoyed. He might have to start walking across the bed and pawing at some faces, but right now… Right now was perfect.


*

Thirty minutes later, Melody and Joe were in the kitchen. Melody wore her pink cat pajama bottoms and a tank top that exposed the shoulder tattoo of Max. It was a wonderful tattoo.

Joe wore a gray T-shirt and plaid pajama bottoms. Coffee was percolating, eggs were sizzling in the pan on the stove, and Max had just finished off a can of cat food. He was ready to watch the activity on the street, but the door to the screened-in porch was closed. He scratched and meowed.

Melody unlocked the door, and Max slipped through the opening. “Oh, wow. Come see this, Joe.”

Joe appeared at her elbow, and pretty soon both humans were looking at something beyond the front door.

“That cat looks exactly like Max,” Joe said.

“I know.” Melody took a quiet step closer to the screen door. “If Max wasn’t right here next to me, I’d swear it was him. Same black mustache and all.”

Max jumped up on the windowsill so he could see what they were talking about. And there she was. Max’s sister. The Ellen gig had paid off. Life was good.



***

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