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He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek right when a drink was placed next to our elbows.

“That’ll be eight-fifty, Sheriff.”

Black paid, then caught a straw and shoved it into my drink—exactly how I liked it—and handed it over to me.

I smiled. “Thanks, Black.”

He squeezed my hip, then led me back out into the chaos of the farmers’ market.

He didn’t lead me far away, though.

Just far enough that we weren’t in the middle of everyone, and he could still see his girl.

“Spent last night with her. We talked until two in the morning. Then she went to bed under my roof for the first time in over a decade.”

I squeezed his hand. “She said that she withdrew from classes before your ex-wife showed up yesterday. Did she say what she was going to do?”

“Move here,” he answered. “I’m going to go up to her dorm and get all her things with her next week. She has enough that it’s going to take a U-Haul, and she’s never driven a trailer before in her life.”

I giggled. “I can say the same. Driving trailers has never been a possibility for me. You’re driving all the way to Texas?”

“I think we’re going to fly, then we’ll rent a car and a U-Haul and drive home,” he answered.

A shriek of laughter and then Shelby called, “Dad! Come look at this!”

I watched the literal light come on in Black’s eyes.

It was a glorious thing to see.

“Go,” I said as I took a sip of my coffee. “I’ll be here drinking this fantastic drink. Then we can find where to go for lunch.”

He winked. “I’ll be back.”

He jogged over to the table where there were a ton of reptiles under heat lamps.

He bent over and looked into a cage—the reason I didn’t go over there because there were snakes—and grinned as he reached into the cage and pulled out a brown boa constrictor.

I shivered, and not because of the cold.

Instead of standing in the middle of the sidewalk, I moved a little down the walkway to an alcove where I could still see the festivities but could take a seat.

I’d just passed an alleyway, my destination in sight, when something pulled me off my feet by the back of my jacket.

I hit the ground hard, and my coffee went flying into my face.

I gasped, thankful that the drink hadn’t been so hot that it assaulted my skin, but I still inhaled some of it, which sent me to my side in a coughing fit.

“Get her into the van.”

I stiffened at the sound of a raspy male voice, rolling up onto my hands and knees, but before I could get to my feet, something hit the side of my face, and everything went black.

When I woke up next, my head was pounding, and the overpowering smell of coffee filled my nostrils.

When I opened my eyes, it was to find complete black surrounding me.

There was no light coming from anywhere.

I felt around, trying to get a feel for where I was, but only hit walls on either side of me.