"Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending by hanging on." Eckhart Tolle

It's move-in day, and I'm delighted to take this next step with Sam. I try to put the past couple of days behind me to concentrate on this day and this day only. I'm glad that I have this move to keep my mind occupied.

I look towards Sam, driving the rented U-Haul like he owns it. One hand is on the steering wheel; the other is holding mine with interlocked fingers. I can't believe how lucky I am to have such a wonderful man who fiercely loves me.

He catches me staring. "Do I have something on my face?"

I laugh, "No, Babe. I was thinking about how lucky I am to have you, and I'm so excited to be officially moved in today."

He turns back towards the road with a massive grin. I'm the lucky one, and as far as I'm concerned, I already consider you officially moved into our home; I did the moment I asked you to live with me."

"Awe, Sam. I love you!"

"I love you, too." He pulls the truck up along the curb in front of my townhouse. Pete and Millie are already there. They have some boxes waiting on the driveway for the men to load into the U-Haul.

Sam leans over to kiss me. "Are you ready for this? There's no turning back once that first box is loaded."

"I'm so ready, Detective Kidwell." I grin. "The question is, are you ready for all of this every day and night?" I move my hands up and down my body.

His eyes darken. "Hell, yeah, so ready!"

We kiss, and then I get the donuts and coffee from the console between us. I hop out as Millie approaches me, jumping up and down like an excited child.

"Donuts!" Millie screams and grabs the bag of donuts from me.

I laugh, "Good morning to you, too."

I can hardly understand her as she shoves a chocolate-covered donut into her mouth. "Mmm, good morning."

"Coffee?" I ask as I extend the morning nectar to her. She nods and takes the cup from me.

"Are you sharing, Darling?" Pete smirks at Millie's antics.

She pouts and reluctantly hands him the bag. He chooses one and smartly hands it back to her.

"Save some for us," Sam requests as he walks over to my side of the truck.

Millie grabs another donut before handing the bag to Sam. I hand out the rest of the coffee, and Sam gives me my favorite jelly donut. We all take a moment to sugar up our energy gauge.

My Dad ended up not being able to help out. He pulled a muscle in his back helping Clueless into his truck.

It takes two hours to load up the truck. The back of the moving van goes into storage, and the front to Sam's and my home. Millie and I go through the townhouse to ensure we have everything while the men take the truck to my rental unit to unload half before heading to the house.

I take my best friend's hand. "Millie, I'll never be able to repay you for all your help packing up my stuff."

She squeezes my hand. "Lucky for you, it's summer vacation."

Millie's a teacher, and fortunately for me, she thrives on being organized. She packed up my entire townhouse with hardly any help from me. I love this girl!

She stops before heading upstairs and takes both of my hands into hers, forcing us to be face-to-face. "I'm worried about you and this stalker shit."

I give her a reassuring smile. "The man's not a stalker. He's an asshole who is trying to scare me. All that tells me is that we're close to discovering the guy's identity."

Millie's grip tightens. "How can you shrug this shit off? Why is it so crucial for you to be involved? Why can't you let the proper authorities handle this, Cindy?"

I look into my best friend's face and see the fear in her eyes, probably the fear that I should be feeling. I don't feel fear. What I do feel is anger, determination, and motivation to catch the fucker who has made it his life mission to stop me from bringing his ass to justice. It's him that should fear me.

I look Millie right into her eyes. "You forget that I have Sam, Millie. We're in this together. Trust me when I say Sam is more committed than I am to find this guy. I fear what Sam will do when he gets his hands on the bastard."

Millie presses her forehead against mine. "Promise me you won't die."

"I promise." I feel confident in my promise to her because I have Sam; he'll never let anything happen to me.

We finish going through the rest of the townhouse, then leave to head over to the house to meet Sam and Pete. I lock the door. While there's a feeling of sadness, it's hope and happiness that outweigh any feelings of sorrow. The townhouse is my past; Sam is my future.

We pull into the driveway of my new home—Millie parks behind my car. I'm thankful that Millie dropped the stalker conversation.

We enter the house, and Millie turns to me. "Where the hell do you plan on putting your shit?"

I laugh, "Upstairs in the spare room. Sam went through his belongings and put some of his things in storage. I'll go through everything quickly and integrate my things with Sam's. Beer?"

"Hell, yeah!"

I toss Millie a beer and pop the top off of mine. I give Millie the lowdown of my plans for incorporating and blending my stuff with Sam's. She nods at the appropriate time as she sees my vision. As we finish our beer and grab another, we hear the truck pull up. I get a couple of extra beers and head out to meet the guys. Millie follows close behind me. Their eyes light up when they see me, well, not me, the beer.

I hand the hard-working men their beverages and sneak a kiss from my man. "Did everything go okay at the storage unit?"

Sam pulls me in for a hug as Pete does the same to Millie. "Surprisingly enough, we still have room in the unit."

There are only a few boxes that I had the guys bring to the house. They're mostly personal items that I want to add to the house to feel more like my home. Sam has been very supportive of any changes that I want to make, but I want to ease myself in slowly. 

It doesn't take long to unpack the U-Haul. Sam and Pete return the rental while Millie and I prepare for a cookout.

Pete and Millie left about an hour ago. Sam and I are on the couch with a glass of Merlot, and a classic rock station is playing Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" in the background. 

"We're so lucky to have such great friends," I randomly announce.

Sam pulls me closer. "We're extremely fortunate." He kisses my head, and I sigh contently.

We sit silently for several moments before Sam speaks again. "Babe, I've been thinking."

I turn my body to look at him with my full attention. "Yeah?"

He lowers his eyes from mine. My heart begins to race, knowing I don't want to hear the following words from his mouth.

Sam takes a deep breath. "Sometimes letting go of something may be hard, but in the end, it is for the best."

Now I'm sitting straight up. "What the hell are you talking about, Sam?"

"I think that you need to let go of this shit with the construction companies."

Now I'm pissed. "What? Why? You said that we were in this together. What the hell, Sam?"

Sam tries to hug me, and I pull away. "Do you not know who the fuck I am! Do you seriously think that I can give this up? Oh, wait, let it go. Is that what you said?"

Things are escalating, and I'm too tired and maybe a little too drunk to deal with this right now. I'm now standing, wanting to run away with nowhere to go.

I head for the front door. I have no fucking clue how Ninja Sam got to me before I reached the door.

He places his hand on my shoulder and turns me to face him. "Babe, I'm sorry. Pete got in my fucking head."

Wait. "Pete? What the hell does Pete have to do with this?"

"God, I don't know." Sam runs his hand nervously through his hair. "Pete said that I should keep you safe by telling you to back off of the case. The fucker all but accused me of putting your life in danger. Shit!"

I stop and wrap my arms around the love of my life; I look into his glossy eyes. "Sam, this is you and me together. Not Millie, not Pete. You and me. You have never made me feel less than who I am. Please don't start tonight."

Tears well up in Sam's eyes, and my heart stops. "I'm sorry," he whispers.

He pulls me into his chest and admits his fears to me. "I'm so scared that this asshole is going to hurt you. He has proved that he has no issue with murdering someone."

I say something that I am beyond shocked to hear, "Sam, do YOU want me to stop investigating these cases? I promise you that I will. All you need to do is say the word."

He looks at me in disbelief and takes a moment before speaking. "Cindy." He looks deep into my eyes. "Shit." I know that he's struggling with his answer. He sighs in defeat, "I can't do that to you; it's in your DNA to investigate when an injustice has crossed your path. We got this, Babe." He takes another breath. "Hell, I fucking need you on these cases."

I smile, take his hand, and return him to the couch. I refill and hand him his wine and take my glass and raise it to his.

We clink our classes, and I give a toast, "To the dynamic duo who will solve this case together. No fear. No judgment. No letting anyone interfere with our objective."

"Cheers." Sam chugs his wine.

An ominous feeling seeps deep into my bones. I attempt to shake it off as I look at Sam's worried eyes. Shit, does he feel it too?