“So, maybe you give them what they want,” Dawson said.
“What?”
Dawson rolled his eyes. “For a top agent, you’re a little slow on the uptake, brother.”
He pulled out a small device and pressed the button. A massive explosion shook the dingy bar.
The elderly bartender didn’t even look up from his magazine.
Bishop ran to the door. Sure enough, the jeep they had been using was now in pieces all up and down the street and blown back into the jungle. It was totally destroyed. He turned back and walked to Dawson, who was now working on his second beer.
“What the fuck was that?”
“Your untimely demise.” Dawson gave him hearty thumbs up. “I’ve been setting that shit up for days. Tomas here made sure no one was around to see anything.”
“Tomas doesn’t care enough to see anything,” the elderly man said in perfect, heavily accented English.
“Tomas likes cash and a lot of it,” Dawson assured him. “He’s going to disappear after assuring the local authorities that one man matching your description got into that car.”
“A couple of men from the cartel came and hauled the body away,” Tomas said, never looking up. “That’s all I know. I need to get to La Paz.” He finally brought his head up, a light in his eyes. “My granddaughter is having her surgery. We thought she would die, but I came into a little cash.”
Holy shit. He was dead. He could be dead. If he was dead, the world opened up to him.
Bliss opened up to him.
“Choose again, Bishop,” Sergeant Dawson said. “Bill is waiting for you. He said something about the kid keeping your cover up for you all these months.”
Seth. Seth had kept his identity up. He could be Henry Flanders. All he had to do was choose.
He would always choose Nell. Oh, god, he could choose again. He could choose for all the right reasons. He could choose who he wanted to be.
He shook his head, the enormity sinking in. Dawson would tell his CO about the explosion. The Agency would investigate, but they wouldn’t find a body. According to sources, the cartel took it.
He was free.
“Thank you.” Henry Flanders shook Dawson’s hand and staggered out into the bright light of the day. He had two cell phones. One for the Agency, and a backup. He always had a backup that no one knew about.
He clicked a button, and within seconds, a voice came on the line.
“Henry? Holy shitballs. Is this really you?” Seth Stark asked.
The little fucker had his private phone number. Oh, if he had a lick of sense, he would kill the kid, but Henry Flanders was nonviolent. He felt a brilliant smile cross his face as he walked down the dirt road. The jungle was lush and green overhead, but he could already smell the clean pine of Colorado. “Hey, Seth. I’m going to need a favor from you.”
He was trusting a twentysomething kid. It was stupid. It was ridiculous. It was right. Seth was family now. “Anything, man.”
“I want to come home.”
“That’s awesome. I can totally make that happen. I can make it look like anything you need.” Because Seth was a wizard. Or a really nerdy fairy godmother.
“I’m going to need a plane ticket, and you’re going to have to find me the best burger joint in La Paz because I get the feeling it’s going to be a while until I have another one.”
Henry walked, his boots turning up dirt. It would be a long walk home, but he didn’t mind. He was following his bliss.
Nell turned her head up to the sun. The fairgrounds were filled with sunshine and friends and family.
“What a beautiful day,” her mother said.
Nell reached for her hand. Six months and still going. Her mother was still sick, but these months had been a blessing. She felt closer to her mother, closer to everyone.
The day after Henry had left, she’d gone home and found her cabin filled. Holly and Stella and Callie had baked and stuffed the freezer with vegan delights. Max and Rye had fixed her porch. Seth and Logan had installed a better router for her computer. There had been so many people who showed up to let the Finn women know that they were not alone.
Bliss had ceased being a way station. Bliss had become her home.
“It’s gorgeous.” She looked around. The whole town had turned out for the picnic. Even the Glens had shown up despite the fact that Noah had recently left with his new wife. James was still bitter, but he’d brought his dad out.
“Do you have room for a couple more?” Callie smiled at her. Bill and Pamela had come out. They were clothed, in deference to the new sheriff’s ordinances. Nell was sure Rye Harper was just trying to raise money for a new chair. Logan had just been named deputy, and he was busy filling out tickets right and left.
She planned to fully protest at the next town meeting. “Sure. There’s always room.”
She got up and helped Callie spread her blanket out. Pam and Bill started talking to Moira, and Nell sat down with Callie. They had been leaning on each other, holding each other’s hands when the loneliness seemed too much.
“I invited Holly to join us,” Callie said. “She’s bringing the new girl with her. I think her name is Laura. She just started working at the Stop ’n’ Shop. It’s weird. She’s been in town for half a year and I think she’s just been holed up in her cabin until now. Something’s up with that girl.”
Maybe she just needed a friend. Nell vowed to be Laura’s friend. She’d seen the pretty blonde. She looked haunted and so very alone. Nell had tried talking to her, but she’d been rebuffed.
Patience. Sometimes that was all it took. She wasn’t going to let the blonde’s obvious gruffness scare her away. Everyone needed a friend. Sometimes all it took was one person to not give up to turn someone’s whole life around.
Nell never gave up.
She let the sun warm her. It was the same sun that would shine down on Henry’s face. They were still connected. She could feel it. Distance didn’t mean a thing. She sent out a silent prayer for him.
To be safe. To know he was loved.
“Nell.” Callie grabbed her arm.
“Give me a minute.” It was a dumb ritual, but it was hers. She reminded herself of all the ways she and Henry were still connected. The sun and the moon and the stars. They were the same. The land they stood on was connected. Oceans might lie between them, but the earth was the same. The very air she breathed would someday find its way to him.
“Nell,” Callie insisted.
“Nell, dear, you really should open your eyes,” her mother’s voice said.
No one would let her dream, it seemed. She opened her eyes. “Fine. What do you need?”
Callie was smiling, tears in her eyes as she pointed toward the parking lot. “Look. Oh, Nell, I’m so happy for you.”
Nell turned, following Callie’s hand. Max was parking his Ford truck and another man was with him, his arm going to the bed of the truck and picking up a backpack and a suitcase.
“Is that who I think it is?” her mother asked.
“I always said he was a smart boy,” Bill replied with a grin on his face. “He makes good choices, that one.”
Henry. He turned, and there was no question who it was. She would know that square jaw anywhere. She dreamed about him every night.
Henry had come back.
“Hey, Nell!” Max screamed across the yard. “I found something you lost. You might want to put a leash on him this time.”
Tears pooled and a cry came out of her mouth. Henry had come back, and that could only mean one thing. He was here for keeps. He was here for her.
She’d prayed for happy endings for her friends. She’d written two little books in the time that Henry was gone, each a hopeful dream for the people she loved, a prayer that the universe would bless them.