She angled her head after they tapped bottles. “There’s something else.” She wagged a finger before he could deny it. “A hell of a year,” she repeated. “Too many ups and downs to count, and you’ve been here for us, Lee, thick, thin, and otherwise. I’ve gotten to know you—even that cop face. Don’t hold it back. I need to know if—”

“It’s nothing to do with the Bigelows.”

“Okay. Good. Why don’t we take these out to the front porch, enjoy the view while you tell me what it is to do with. There’s pretty much nothing I haven’t dumped on you over this hell of a year. Your turn.”

“Actually, yeah. I’d like to run it by you.”

They settled on the porch in a couple of chairs she kept meaning to sand and repaint one day. The breeze sent the wind chimes Britt had given her for her birthday singing. The lawn Zane had mowed for her that Saturday smelled green and fresh.

“It’s a good place, Emily. It’s a good home you’ve made here.”

“I hope so. I—”

“You don’t have to hope. I’ve watched you and the kids over this hell of a year, seen them change, relax little by little. Lose that victim look in the eyes. It’s been hard, with the trial, with having to deal with it.”

“Counseling helped. It’s still helping.”

“You’ve done everything right, given them a safe place, and one that shows them what a home’s supposed to be.”

“I didn’t do it alone, that’s for sure. My parents, God, they’re like oaks. To say this hasn’t been easy for them is the understatement of all understatements. She’s their daughter, too, Lee. Eliza’s their child. But they stood up. My mama…”

Emily closed her eyes, shook her head. “She only once broke down, and that was when it was just the two of us.”

“You come by your spine and your heart naturally. ‘Oaks,’ that’s a good term for it. Walkers are oaks with good, strong roots.”

“Well, I believe it. Zane and Britt are going through with having their name legally changed. They want Walker, so that’s what they’ll have.”

“I think that’s the right thing, all around.”

“So do I. You know, Lee, friends, neighbors, they stood up, too, stood up, stood by us. We couldn’t have stayed in Lakeview otherwise.”

“It’s a good place, Emily.”

“It is.”

And she knew she’d be forever grateful to look out at the lake, look out to the hills, and know that.

“The Carter family—the kids especially needed them. I needed them. They’re always there. And you, Lee.”

She laid her hand over his. “Especially you. I swear, I don’t know what we’d’ve done without you. I’m glad we don’t have to know. Now.” Putting on a smile, she shifted to face him. “You tell me what’s on your mind, so I can do a little payback.”

“Okay. I had a meeting with Chief Bost. I’ve had a few actually, but we met again today after the sentencing. Bost, me, and a few others.”

That smile began to fade. “You said it wasn’t about Graham.”

“It’s not, or I guess you could call it a by-product. Bost is turning in his papers.”

“His papers?”

“He’s stepping down,” Lee explained. “Resigning. He wanted to see this through, and now it’s through. He and his family are moving to Wilmington once the school year’s done. It’s the right thing for him.”

She rocked a bit, as if her whole body nodded. “That’s good, from where I sit. I’ve harbored some hard feelings there. He came out, apologized to Zane, to all of us, face-to-face. But I’ve had hard feelings I couldn’t let go of. I’m not going to be sorry Zane doesn’t have to see him around.”

“The position’s coming open. They offered it to me.”

“You?” She scooted around fully, smiling as she stared at him. “Well, that’s a big surprise on a spring day. I don’t mean to say we wouldn’t be lucky to have you, but that’s a serious sort of change for you. You’re a city detective, major crimes. Would you want to be a High Country police chief?”

“Depends.” Clearing his throat, he shifted a little. “I like the town, the people. Like I said, it’s a good place. Might be I’m ready for a change. I don’t want to put any pressure on you about that, or anything.”

“On me?”

“It’s just…” He needed a good pull on his beer. “I’ve got a little time to think about it, figure if it’s best all around. Or not. If it’d be awkward.”

She wondered if she’d ever seen him look nervous, and couldn’t bring one instance to mind. “I’m just not following you.”

“Because I’m not doing this right. Let’s back up. Do you want to have dinner?”

“Sure. I just have to make that run to the store.…” She trailed off when she saw the slightest wince. “You mean like a date? You and me? I have to put down my beer.”

She set the bottle down, pushed up, walked to the edge of the porch.

“I didn’t mean … we can all go.”

She turned back. Not only nervous, she realized, but at the moment he looked downright embarrassed.

Wasn’t that the sweetest thing?

“You did mean, and I’m what Britt calls processing that. A year, Lee, just a few weeks shy of a year since Britt and I walked up to you outside the police station, and you’ve never made a move. Not even a little sneaky step.”

“Of course I didn’t. I wasn’t going to muck up the case, the trial, you, or the kids with hitting on you, for God’s sake.”

“But you wanted to.”

“I…” He drank more beer. “Well, yeah. Am I blind, deaf, stupid? You’re beautiful, you’ve got brains. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met, and you come with the biggest heart in the damn world to my mind.”

She leaned back against the post as she felt places inside her she’d resigned to staying empty start to fill again.

And all sort of warm and trembly.

“I never got that read off you, Detective Lee Keller, not even once.”

“You had enough to think about, to deal with. And the kids. The last thing they needed was somebody moving on their aunt when they needed her to steady their world.”

“I owe you so much.”

He set down his beer, a little harder than he intended, and pushed to his feet. “That’s just what I don’t want in this, just where we’re not going. I’m not going to have you feel obligated to give me a shot. I’m not settling for that, and neither should you.”

“You’re absolutely right. Absolutely right about that.”

“We got to be friends, and that’s fine. If you’re not interested in—”

She grabbed him by the tie, yanked him to her, and shut him up.

Just right, she thought. Oh God, just right.

When she moved her hand from his tie to his face, she smiled at him. “You’re a detective. What do you deduce about my interest?”