“Me too,” Clementine murmured gently.
“You love you too?” he teased with a grin.
Clementine rolled her eyes and threw him a rueful look. “No, I love you,” she said softly.
Moss smiled. For some reason he couldn’t stop smiling. Whether it was relief at finally catching the killer or knowing that Clementine was unharmed despite the danger she had been in Moss couldn’t be sure, but he made no attempt to stop.
“That’s good then.”
“Is it?” She asked with a sudden frown. “I am not sure I like the idea of being in love.”
“Oh? Why? Are you scared?” he teased.
“No, of course not. What is there to be afraid of by being in love with someone?”
“You are not in love with someone. You are in love with me, and I am in love with you.”
“It changes everything, doesn’t it?”
“Well, it has to. We will argue, of course, but that can only be a good thing because we have to clear the air and be able to kiss and make up again,” Moss reasoned.
“I am not sure I like the sound of that.”
“Kissing and making up?” He squinted at her.
“No, arguing,” Clementine sighed. “What will we argue about?”
“All sorts of things I expect. I don’t know. I have never been married before. We can find out in time, though,” Moss grinned.
“Marriage?” She leaned back and squinted at him.
“We are going to have to try it, if only for my peace of mind,” he whispered lovingly.
“Your peace of mind? Not your reputation then, or mine for that matter,” Clementine asked ruefully.
“No. If I don’t know you are at home looking after the brood of children we are going to have, I think I will be climbing the walls while I am at work. I certainly will be unable to concentrate on anything until I know you are all right. You seem to have a penchant for getting yourself into trouble, so I suppose being the wife of a private investigator is probably the safest option for you.” He grinned when she playfully smacked his arm.
“I do not have a penchant for getting myself in trouble,” she protested.
“Well, you have made friends with a killer,” Moss reminded her.
“I didn’t know she was a lunatic,” Clementine protested.
The humour between them suddenly died until Clementine turned quite sad.
“It isn’t your fault. She fooled everyone. I doubt her family will have had any clue what she was up to either and they live with her. They will be shocked and horrified, and thoroughly humiliated by it all. I am afraid it is going to mean that there will be a few changes in the village and a lot of gossip for a while.” Moss squinted at her suspiciously. “I don’t suppose you have ever considered living in town, have you?”
Clementine immediately began to shake her head. “I shouldn’t like that. Firstly, I don’t want to leave my father. Him living in the middle of nowhere all by himself is something I cannot even begin to consider. Secondly, I don’t even like visiting town for very long. I certainly couldn’t live there.”
Moss frowned a little.
“I suppose this is where the problems lie between us, isn’t it?” Clementine whispered.
“Only if we let them,” Moss replied. “I confess that when I first came to the village, I really couldn’t comprehend why people would want to live in such a place. Now that I have been here for a while, though, well, it kind of grows on you, doesn’t it? I really don’t mind it at all.”
“You don’t mind it?” Clementine wasn’t at all sure whether she like the sound of that.
“You don’t believe me?”