“Thank you for the vote of confidence,” he said, and then rolled her over onto her back and kissed her senseless.

Just when she thought there was going to be more, he turned her loose, straightened up the covers, and put the popcorn bowl back between them. He’d just left her flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She raised up on both elbows.

“What the hell just happened?”

“John Wayne,” he said, just as the sound of more gunfire filled the room.

She looked at him, then at the movie.

“He’s my favorite,” she said, then replaced her pillows, scooted back against them, and took a drink of Coke.

After that, the only sound in the room was more of John Wayne. Just as the movie was coming to an end, Sully glanced at her and then smiled. She was asleep, as predicted, and she looked so darn cute in her pink pajamas, all squished down into the pillows.

He turned off the TV and moved all of their stuff, then pulled back the covers and eased her down into bed.

When he leaned over to kiss her forehead, she murmured something he couldn’t understand as he pulled up.

“I am so falling in love with you, girl. Please love me back,” he whispered.

He turned off the lights as he went, leaving the night-light on in the adjoining bath, and carried the remnants of their party back to the kitchen and cleaned it up.

The house was quiet as he walked through the rooms. He paused in the living room and pulled back the drapes to look out.

The streetlights illuminated.

The shadows hid what was within them.

He thought back to his meeting with Elliot Graham.

“Okay, Janie. I got the message. I’m supposed to stay in Blessings, so here I am. If I’m not supposed to search for you anymore, then come find me.”

He let the drapes fall shut and went upstairs, pausing again outside Melissa’s door.

“Sleep well, sweetheart. There won’t always be a door between us.”

Once in his own bedroom, he checked his phone before putting it on the charger. No calls. No texts. Nobody back home missed him, which made the decision to stay here even easier. He would have to go back to tie up the loose ends of his old life, but in his heart he was already gone.

* * *

The next day at noon, Granny’s Country Kitchen was inundated with people in their Sunday best, all planning to attend Niles Holland’s funeral but grabbing some food before the two o’clock service began.

The conversations were mostly focused on the spectacular showing the widow’s family had made last night, without noticing there were no comments on the passing of Niles. No one knew anything about his personal life. They’d only known the public side of him.

It was just after 1:30 p.m. when the dining room began to clear out. All of the waitresses were exhausted and sitting together at a back table eating lunch.