Dad.
A wallop of anguish slammed into JJ’s chest. She didn’t want to see herself anymore. She grabbed the sink with one hand and clutched the phone to her chest with the other as she moved out of the mirror’s scope. Her back hit the tiled wall between the sink and the wall with a painful thud. She closed her eyes as a lump formed in her throat.
She smelled her strawberry shampoo.
The sound of the door opening made her open her eyes.
JJ could feel the part of her used to putting on a mask try its hardest to bring up a polite smile and a reasonable excuse for why she was all but crying in the corner of the bathroom, covered in blood and clutching her phone.
But then she saw who had come inside.
She watched as Price turned around, shut the door and locked it.
She watched as he walked slowly to the spot in front of her.
She watched as he fixed her with a look that was as quiet as velvet.
Then he took her face in his hands.
“Thank you.” His words were soft but genuine. That confused her even more.
“For what?” she asked.
Price ran one hand down so his index finger and thumb could hold her chin.
“You’ve spent so much time trying to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible but, today, you didn’t hesitate to put yourself in the middle of it. For Winnie.” He sighed. A small smile turned up the corner of his lips. “That was a mighty move, Miss Shaw.”
JJ expected another thank you. Instead, she got something else entirely.
Price pressed his lips against hers in a kiss that was gentle. Quiet. Velvet.
It was only when he broke it that JJ realized she had broken first.
All the stress of the last few hours, the last few days, the last few years, pushed JJ down into Price’s chest. She was crying soon after.
Price was simple with his actions as he was with his kiss.
He wrapped his arms around her and didn’t say a word.
* * *
“I’d say whatyou did was make some dang questionable choices but, I guess, at the end of the day I might have done the same.”
The sheriff ran a hand down his face. They were in his office, but neither was sitting down. Liam was leaning against the corner of his desk and Price was leaning against the wall. Both had their bodies tilted toward the door. They didn’t want to be overheard and had already buttoned up once when Winnie had come in asking for money for the vending machines.
Now they were alone again to circle the same drain they had been circling the last half hour.
“I would have looped you in had I thought it would do more good than harm,” Price admitted. “I thought we still had time.”
It was a sticky situation, no matter who had done the sticking. After JJ had made the call to her source, she had sat down and told her story to Liam while Price sat at her side. Her telling the sheriff had been a different experience from when she had told him. She’d been completely detached. Maybe because she was tired. Maybe because she was hurt. Either way, it came out as if being read off a teleprompter by a newscaster finishing off a twelve-hour shift.
It had been a far cry from the woman he had held in his arms in the bathroom.
“Up until now, there’s been nothing to grab on to either,” Price pointed out. “We were already looking for Josiah’s and Georgie’s attackers. All I got a day before you was the backstory.”
Sheriff Weaver actually snorted.
“I have a feeling you have a few more details than me. Miss Shaw in there might have given me her story, but don’t think I didn’t notice the few nudges you sent her way.”
