“But?”
“But...you knew that Amelia led me to you?” he asked softly. She nodded; he’d told her that. They’d both been trying to think of a way to thank a ghost.
“Not that many people really get to speak with ghosts—especially people who have graduated from the academy and have had a good decade plus of work in the field. Jackson and I were especially good together because we could read one another’s minds—not so much ESP, but knowing how we both thought. He’s talked to me about his Krewe of Hunters.”
“Oh!” she said. “But you love Alaska!”
“It will always be home.”
She smiled at that and curled next to him. “I love New Orleans, too. Right now, though...”
“You know, the DC area has some of the finest theaters you’ll ever find.”
“Does it mean that much to you—that we stay near one another? Not just now, but...”
He cradled her head and drew her close to kiss her lips. “Yeah,” he said softly.
“I know an actress who would be happy to share her cabin,” she whispered against his lips.
They made love again. Physically exhausted, still half-aroused, deeply comfortable in his own bed in his own home, Thor drifted toward sleep. Clara moved against him, murmuring, “Something isn’t right.”
“What?”
He realized she’d been half-asleep when she roused and looked at him, puzzled.
“Something isn’t right with me?” he asked.
She shook her head and grinned. “No. You’re perfect.”
“Perfect?”
She smiled and lay sleepily against him again. “Okay, not perfect. But damned close.”
“You are perfect,” he whispered to her.
“Oh, so far from it!” she said. “No, it was something that Amelia said.”
“Amelia?”
“She was walking with me...and then she said ‘something isn’t right’ and went to find you, and bring you to me,” Clara said, and she rose again and kissed him, and he held her tight.
Eventually, they slept.
Life was good. The future loomed ahead.
A future that included...Fate.
*
Clara slipped out of bed as silently as she could. She collected her things and smiled as she watched Thor still sleeping—he really was a perfect man, arms tossed about where she had been, limbs entangled in the wealth of the covers, profile striking against the sheets.
She hurried out lest she be tempted to stay.
In the shower she savored the hot water cascading around her, thinking that he might rise to join her. But he didn’t. She dressed and went out and stood on the front porch first. The temperature was somewhere in the midfifties—cold for Louisiana standards! But so beautiful here.
She closed her eyes for a minute, incredibly grateful to be alive. So much adrenaline—fear? Fear for herself, for Emmy, for all of them? Anger, or a combination? A determination that she wouldn’t go down without fighting?—had filled her first hours, she hadn’t even really comprehended what had happened. The hours afterward had made it sink in. She’d faced a monster. And she’d come out of it okay.
Heading outside, she took a moment to really appreciate the compound. It was so handsomely arranged and filled with such beautiful creatures. Astrid and Colin kept massive and gentle draft horses as well as the dogs. The paddocks now were filled with the animals, running about, grazing, doing what horses did. She could see Astrid toward the main paddock, working with a group of puppies, and she walked over to her.
“Good morning! Did you sleep well?”
“You bet. What a beautiful group you have here!” Clara said.
“They have professional names,” Astrid said. “But, I call them Rolly, Polly and Fat Stuff!”
Clara took a seat on a bench by the kennel runs and smiled as the puppies came racing to her.
“Very social dogs,” Clara said.
“There’s always an alpha—I think it’s going to be Fat Stuff, in this group.”
“Bring me to your leader—Fat Stuff!” Clara said lightly.
Astrid took a seat by her side. “We’re so grateful that...”
“We’re alive?” Clara murmured. “I know I am!”
“More than that,” Astrid said. “Tate Morley... I think the case haunted Thor forever. Now it’s at an end. It’s hard to believe that it really is at an end!”
“I guess it’ll feel more real day by day,” Clara murmured.
“Yes, I imagine. Well, anyway, hopefully getting back to work...boarding the Fate! I know you’re working, but I hope you have a wonderful time.”
“I think your brother is going to take the cruise. Time off—and the cruise.”
Astrid nodded, grinning. “Yeah, I think so,” she said.
Clara’s phone rang, startling them both. Clara excused herself to take it.