“Good.” With a light at
the end of the tunnel he could plan his attack on
Maggie.
She wasn’t going to get away with invading
every square inch of him, turning him inside out, and then walking
away. He’d given up on his happily ever after and stopped reaching
out to people. She’d shown him he couldn’t stop living and
fighting.
“Now rest.” Beth jotted
notes on his chart and headed for the door. “Visiting hours start
soon and I’m sure your family will break the rules on the number of
visitors.”
He settled back against the pillows, knowing
she hadn’t really tried to enforce the rule. It wouldn’t have held
up against his parents, Craig, his sister Laurel and her husband
John. The downer of their visits was they couldn’t bring his niece.
He missed seeing her.
A short time later as Beth predicted, the
crew that was his family showed up to crowd his room again and keep
his mind occupied. Searching their faces as they came in, he missed
the face of the woman who’d captured his heart, and terrified him
to the bone with her courage.
“If I didn’t know better,”
Laurel said with a smirk, “I’d think you didn’t like me. You always
frown when we come in.”
“Sorry. I was sort of
hoping to see someone else.” Or that he could escape the four walls
and medical chains of his prison. He adored his sister, but hers
wasn’t the face he needed to see.
Splitting up, his mom took one side of the
bed and Laurel claimed the other. His dad and John nodded and
settled in the two chairs in the room. They’d settled into the
routine the first day of letting Mom and Laurel fuss while they
watched whatever he had the TV tuned to, and that was never
exciting because he didn’t give a damn about anything on TV.
“I think,” Mom said, “he’s
waiting for a beautiful woman to come kiss his wounds.”
His mind perked. Alert.
Hopeful. Had they talked to Maggie? Did they know why she was
staying away? “I wouldn’t complain. Do you have one in
mind?”
“Your nurse is cute
enough,” Dad put in.
“A little young I think.”
Not to mention he apparently liked them with an edge of temper
these days.
“Young’s good, she’ll have
lots of energy.”
“I might consider her if
she’d let me have some decent food.” Or if she aroused him by
walking in a room. Forming a plan, knowing he needed his dad’s help
with the first phase, he winced as he looked between his mom and
Laurel. “This hospital crap blows.”
“You rest.” Mom brushed
her hand over his arm.
“We’ll go get you
something,” Laurel said. “John, you have the keys?”
“Yeah,” John grinned and
rolled his eyes behind Laurel. His brother-in-law made his sister
happy with his quiet support, and he had an uncanny way of knowing
what people needed. “I’ll drive.”
Dad chuckled after everyone
left. “It isn’t nice to use their concern.”
“They’ll forgive
me.”
“That they will.” Dad
moved to sit on the foot of the bed. “So what’s up?”
“I need you to go to the
bank for me.”
Dad stroked his chin like
he always did when he suspected something. “You going to do some
shopping in here?”
“I need Granny’s ring from
my safe deposit box. You’re on the list to be granted
access.”
“Would this have anything
to do with a lovely young woman with brown hair and chocolate
eyes?”
“You’ve seen Maggie?”
Forgetting his pain, he straightened in the bed. “Was she here?
What’d she say? How did she look?”
Dad laughed and pushed him
back down. “She was in the waiting room while you were in surgery.
She left when she heard you were all right.”
And hadn’t been back, but
he’d swear he heard her say she loved him. The pain meds they had
him on didn’t cause hallucinations. She had to be real. “How did
she look?”
“Scared and worried. Tell
me about her.”
“She’s…” The words he
needed escaped him. He couldn’t think of a way to do her justice.
She’d been in his soul, her face, her soft touch, her encouraging
voice, giving him a reason to fight back when his body begged him
to let go. “She rescued me from a depressing life by showing me
there are still things worth fighting for. I’m going to ask her to
marry me.”
“Really? What happened to
your vow never to love again? And Craig mentioned she has
kids.”
“She’s it for me. And her
kids.” BD relaxed deeper into the bed knowing she was okay. “I’m a
lot of things, but I’m not stupid. I can’t let her go without a
fight.”
“Your mother and sister
will be thrilled. I liked her.”
“I love her.” He rubbed
his fingers over his lips, sure the memory of her touch made them
tingle again.
“I’ll get you the ring
before we leave town.”
“You’re going
home?”
“We have to. I have a
court case I can’t miss, and John needs to get back to his
clients.”
“The day’s work for a
judge.” Missing his family even before they left, BD sighed. “One
last favor, Dad. Don’t mention this to anyone just yet. Maggie’s
had a rough road and may take some convincing.”
He hadn’t given her any reason to think he
would stick around when the case was over. And with the way he’d
treated her at times, he no doubt had a lot of work to do to make
things right with her. He would start as soon as he got out of this
bed and found a way to make her listen.
Maggie turned the car off and rested her head
on the steering wheel. She doubted the country air would do much to
clear her confusion, but she’d needed to escape. The farm was the
first place to come to mind.
Walking to the tree where her favorite bench
now sat in shambles, she saw the lights at her parents’ home.
They’d be settling in with a bowl of popcorn to watch the news as
if the depressing broadcast was great entertainment. They were
weird at times, but they were a team who faced everything together.
She wanted that.
Sitting on the ground with one of the bench
legs across her lap, breathing in the night air, she thought about
the last year. Everything she and her kids had been through. The
things she’d learned about herself, including the new inner
strength she’d come to recognize.
In the moonlight shining
through the tree branches, she rubbed the ring on her finger. “Oh,
Mike. Moving on shouldn’t hurt this bad. But I fell in love with a
man who risks his life every day, and that scares me.”
For the first time in her
life, she felt completely alone. No one would tell her what to do
this time. Breathing deeply, she fought back the tears and refused
to feel sorry for herself. She was a big girl and could make her
own decisions. “How am I supposed to deal with this? What if I lose
him like I lost you?”
“Does he ever
answer?”
Jumping at the hushed sound
of her dad’s voice, she looked up with her hand on her chest.
“Sheesh, Dad. Do you have to sneak around?”
“I’m not the one coming
onto the property at night without calling first.” He sat down and
wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “What are you doing
here?”
“Thinking.”
She’d sat here with her dad after Mike had
died. He’d listened silently while she told him about the accident
and all her fears of the future. Thinking back on it, she felt more
like crying now than she had then—because she realized how much
Burke had changed her from the first moment.
She hadn’t needed to cry over Mike once Burke
had let her weep. His tenderness had helped her find the control
she’d needed to survive. Then he’d shown back up and made her want
things she’d never believed existed, and was afraid to hope she
could have.
“What’s going on,
Maggie?”
“Burke gets out of the
hospital in the morning.”
“I heard.” Dad laid his
cheek on her head and squeezed her close. “That’s good.”
“Yeah, I
guess.”
Rubbing her arms, he gave
her the comfort he’d always offered. “You’re scared of loving
him.”
She closed her eyes and
willed the tears not to fall. She sniffled when they did anyway.
“This was all just another day on the job for him. I don’t even
know if he intends to come back.”
“Maggie.”
She laughed despite her mood. Good ole Dan
Malone, always able to pin her thoughts without an effort and call
her bullshit with one heavily toned word. She never stood a chance
of hiding things from him, had given up most of her attempts years
ago.
He sat her away, grabbed
her chin and then made her look at him. “Stop doubting yourself and
BD. What you could have together.”
“I’m…”
“Scared. Worried about
getting close and losing him.” Dad kissed her nose. “And you worry
about your kids and how they’ll adjust if he stays.”
“Yeah.” Unable to sit,
Maggie rose and walked a few feet away. She stood a good chance of
having to live without Burke. If not now, then at any time because
of his job.
“What do you see when you
look in BD’s eyes? How did you feel when you were with
him?”
She thought about how to
put her answer into words. “I feel safe and special. I’d like to
think I see the future.”
“Then you can’t live in
fear of what
might
happen.” He moved to her, placed his hands on her shoulders,
and turned her toward him. “Only you can decide if he’s the right
choice for you. And yes, a life with him will be tough at times
because of his job. You’ve already lived through some heavy stuff
with him.”
“So am I supposed to
pretend his work doesn’t bother me?”
“No. If he’s the right
man, you owe it to him to shoot straight. Trust him.”
There’d been a lot of
discussions about trust with him. “Why can’t I find a man like you?
One without a dangerous job?”
“You had that. Mike’s job
is not what kept him safe, and Burke’s isn’t necessarily what he’ll
die from. Life happens with or without us. It guarantees us
nothing.”
“That doesn’t help me
much.” She had more questions than answers. Dad always had a
strange way of helping.
“Then ask yourself how
much he means to you. Think about what your life was like without
him, and how it might be with him. And know whatever you decide,
we
all
approve.”
He kissed her forehead before walking away.
A tear slid down her cheek as she watched her
dad disappear in the darkness. Even if she could accept Burke’s
job, nothing said he wanted a long-term relationship with her. He
was a special man, and though he tried so hard at times to be an
arrogant jerk, deep down he was kind. Hot. Passionate. Amazing in
so many ways.
He hadn’t even seemed to think she was crazy
for the way she attacked the bushes in the yard. And he hadn’t
tried to take over the job. He understood her.
She hadn’t known him long, but did it really
matter? Wasn’t it more important to treasure the good things he
gave her and enjoy whatever time she could have with him?
What she had with Mike had
been good, but she wanted to spend the rest of her life with
someone different. A man who gave her everything she’d ever wanted.
A man who could rescue her heart, as well as her life.
Maggie fisted her hand at
her side until her nails dug into her palm.
Get it together. He isn’t going to bite.
“Can I help
you?”
She turned and smiled at
the young nurse, Beth Sanders according to her name badge. Pointing
at the door to Burke’s room, she realized how idiotic she must
look. “I’m his ride.”
“I can promise in his
current state, you have the advantage.”
Doubtful.
“Is he okay to be leaving today? Should he stay
longer?”
The nurse shook her head
and held up the papers in her hand. “The doctor signed the release
papers.”
Maggie held her hand out
and smiled. “Do you mind if I give those to him?”
Nurse Sanders handed her
the papers, but didn’t release them instantly. “Take care of
him.”
Maggie looked in the other woman’s eyes and
saw her interest in Burke went deeper than concern for a patient.
Poor girl would be toast if he’d even hinted at a return interest.
He’d better not have.
“Promise.” She took the
papers and pushed the door to Burke’s room open.
Pacing the floor, he spun and stared at her.
Silence charged the room as their eyes locked.
The silence bellowed.
“Hi,” she finally managed.
She wanted to rush across the room and throw herself at him, but
needed to take this slow. Unsure of herself, she leaned against the
door.
His mouth slowly raised into a smile. His
steady gaze seared her soul, filling her with the warmth she’d been
missing the last three days.
“Mags,” his sex-dipped
voice rasped.
She could do this.
He held out his right hand and raised a brow
in challenge. When she got close enough, he took her hand in his,
and linked their fingers. Tugging her closer, he pulled her hand to
his lips. The kiss he brushed across her knuckles sent shivers of
excitement coursing over her. His lids drooped. How had she stayed
away?