She clutched the fabric of his jacket. “Say it louder. I don’t think Rick heard you.”
Rick closed his phone, tucked it in his pocket. “Something I should be aware of?”
She remained close to Jake, not bothering to move away. “Rick, Jake and I are dating.”
Rick stilled. “Say again?”
“It’s serious.” She could feel Jake’s gaze burning into her, but she couldn’t tell if this pronouncement pleased him or not.
Rick cleared his throat. “How long?”
“Not long.”
Rick clenched his jaw, clearly chewing on words he wasn’t sure should be spoken. “You were never good at keeping secrets as a kid, Georgia.”
She remained close enough to Jake to feel his body heat. “No. I’m still not too good at it.”
Rick looked at Jake. “Break her heart and you know what happens next.”
Jake didn’t blink. “What if she breaks my heart?”
Rick shook his head. “Then that’s your tough luck for getting involved with a Morgan. It’s a one-way street.”
“Roger that.”
Rick drew in a breath. “I need a walk.”
When he was gone, Georgia met Jake’s gaze. “That out in the open enough for you?”
He kissed her full on the lips, hovering close when he spoke. “It’s a start.”
EPILOGUE
Three months later
The Morgan clan had arrived in force.
Georgia, Deke and his wife, Rachel, Alex and his new wife, Leah, all stood in the judge’s chambers and watched as Rick and Jenna held baby Sara. They watched the judge sign the final adoption papers. “That makes it official. You may now officially welcome Sara Adele Morgan into the clan.”
Rick leaned over and kissed Jenna whose eyes filled with tears that spilled down her face.
Georgia swallowed hard and softly clapped. She would love this baby as if it were her own flesh and blood. “Another Morgan girl to terrorize the clan. I like it.”
Jenna smiled at Georgia. “Baby Sara kinda looks like you.”
Georgia glanced at the baby. “Yeah, I think she has my nose.”
KC and Georgia had arranged a small funeral for Carrie. A search revealed no relatives who would take the baby, leaving an open path for Rick and Jenna to talk with Social Services.
Alex, tall, lean, and normally very reserved to the point of cold, wrapped his arm around Leah as the two walked up to Georgia and smiled. “Where’s Jake?”
“He’s in criminal court. Had to testify. He said he’d catch up shortly.”
She and Jake had attended Alex and Leah’s wedding on Christmas Eve, and though her brothers were still getting used to the idea of the two of them as a couple, they accepted him for the time being.
Deke wrapped his arm around Georgia. “Baby Sara reminds me of you. Buddy called you a small tornado the day he and Mom signed your adoption papers. I think Sara is your match.”
She never realized how much emotion must have infused the moment her parents made her an official Morgan. They didn’t speak about it often, but now she realized when they did, why her mother always grew a little misty-eyed. “I will gladly hand over the mantle as the youngest, most troublesome Morgan.”
“Not troublesome,” Deke said. “More like a spitfire.”
Sara would have questions about Carrie along the way, and Georgia would be on hand to share the stories she remembered of the shy girl who always had a smile.
The Morgans all made their way into the marbled hallway where Jake stood, his hands in his pockets. He smiled when he saw Georgia and crossed to kiss her. No more hiding from them. They were a couple.
“Is it official?” Jake asked Rick.
Jenna beamed as she adjusted the baby’s pink bow on her head. “Signed and sealed.”
“That’s good.” He wrapped his arm tighter around Georgia. “She’s a lucky baby to have you.”
Jenna shook her head. “We’re the lucky ones.”
Georgia’s chest tightened with emotions she really couldn’t put into words.
As if sensing this, Jake hugged her closer. And in a voice only loud enough for her to hear, said, “You doing all right?”
Tears threatened as Rick, Jenna, and Sara stood beside the judge and posed for pictures. “Sure, why not?”
“You have that look,” he said.
This morning, she’d woken up in his arms, feeling safer than she had in a long time. For weeks, she’d woken up from nightmares featuring Amber standing over her bed. “What look?”
“The faraway worried kind.”
“I’m fine.”
It had taken Jake and Rick weeks to untangle the webs Amber had spun. They’d traveled to Austin where they had learned that Amber and Tim had hunted and killed a girl just as they had Elisa, Bethany, and Mike.
Amber truly was a woman with no conscience. A sociopath. From the moment she learned that Dalton Marlowe was her father, she set out to completely destroy him. Bethany’s death had been collateral damage. She’d been in the woods that day. Wrong place. Wrong time. No witnesses. It had been almost the perfect crime. Until Georgia had placed the call to Amber telling her the case was reopened.
Suddenly, the satisfaction Amber had enjoyed knowing how she’d hurt Marlowe by taking his son, vanished. Her hatred drove her back to Nashville to finish what she’d started.
However, when she had run into Mrs. Reed, she found herself falling back into an old pattern, allowing the woman to mother her. Amber had lied to Georgia about Mrs. Reed. She’d not killed the woman but drugged her and left her in her room. Whether she had an affection for the woman or simply still considered her useful, no one would ever know.
Jake threaded his fingers through hers, warming her skin. His touch reminded her of how alive those hands could make her feel. “So, you got any other cold cases you want to stir up?”
She laughed. “You know me. Never a dull moment.”
He kissed her on the lips. “God help us all.”