Dawn of Valor (26 page)

Epilogue

“A
nd that night we spent at the hotel guaranteed you,” Rachel said, giving Morgan a tender look, and sharing it with his wife, Laura.

Chase nodded, squeezing Rachel’s shoulder tenderly. “Nine months to the day, she had you, son.”

Morgan grinned bashfully, looking over at his brother and sister with their spouses. “I was the ten-pound sack of potatoes from what I hear.”

Rachel rolled her eyes, looking up at Chase. “That you were! I blamed Chase during the forty hours I was in labor.” Morgan resembled Chase most strongly of their two sons. Noah and Aly took after her.

“Yes,” Chase added blandly, “and my ears have never been the same.”

The family broke into laughter, and Chase’s grin broadened. “You even taught me some new cuss words.”

“Chase Trayhern!” Rachel jabbed him lightly in the ribs. “That is a bald-faced contortion of the truth and you know it!”

Aly leaned forward, fondly looking at the last of the photographs in her album. “Mom, Dad, this has been the best Christmas we’ve ever had.” She shook her head, running her fingers across the thick photo album. “The time it must have taken for you to do this for each of us…”

Rachel loved her daughter fiercely. Aly was a spitting image of her, in almost every way, just as she had promised Chase so long ago. “Honey, it was a labor of love.”

“And we enjoyed going back over the memories,” Chase added with feeling.

“Still,” Noah added, glancing at his wife, Kit, who was holding their two squirming children in her lap, “it was a monumental task. Thanks.”

Rachel’s gaze moved lovingly around the circle of family that surrounded them. Melody climbed off Kit’s lap, running over to her. Matthew, who was barely two, squirmed out of Kit’s hold, too, following his older sister. Chase leaned down, picking up his red-haired grandson and tucking him tenderly into the crook of his arm.

“Your father and I want to thank all of you for coming, for sharing this holiday with us,” Rachel said, a catch in her voice. Tears blurred her vision, and Melody reached up, touching the drifting tear curving down her cheek. Giving the little girl a kiss on the brow, Rachel added, “Now, you can begin photo albums for your own children.”

Kit nodded, giving Noah a wry look. “I don’t think anyone else in the family has to worry about having enough kids for the next generation of the Trayhern dynasty.” She gently patted her belly, giving Rachel and Chase a soft smile. “I’m three months along with our third baby.”

Rachel heard cries of surprise and saw the joy in everyone’s faces over Kit’s unexpected announcement. Noah and Kit were so happy together. Their love of children was obvious, as it was for each other.

Morgan cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention. “Well, I don’t want to brag or anything, but—” he looked down significantly at Laura, her cheeks flushed a rosy pink “—do you want to tell them, sweetheart?”

Laura shyly looked up, her slender, artistic hands lying lovingly across her stomach. “Morgan…”

He grinned, pride in his eyes. “Laura’s pregnant.”

“Wonderful!” Aly cried, clapping her hands in delight. “How soon?”

Laura smiled up at her husband. “You can’t keep any secrets, can you?”

Morgan’s grin broadened, and he gripped her hand. “Not on something like this. Mom, Dad, Laura’s going to have our first baby in June of next year. That was going to be our Christmas announcement to everyone. How about that?”

Chase observed that there were no dry eyes in the house. Morgan had gone through so much hell that he deserved this kind of incredible happiness. “I hope your child will give you as much joy as you did us, Morgan,” he said, meaning it.

Morgan grew somber, remembering all the entire family had been put through because of him. “Thanks, Dad, that means a lot to me.”

“Well,” Aly said, grinning, “I don’t have any pregnancy announcements, but Clay and I are going to be transferred next month.” She grinned over to her parents. “Guess where?”

Rachel gasped. “Here? To Florida?”

“Yup,” Aly said, satisfaction in her voice. “We’ll be on special assignment with the Coast Guard down at Miami, flying high altitude, locating drug boats in the Caribbean.”

“It’s a three-year assignment,” Clay added, smiling at his happy wife. “So, I imagine you’ll be seeing us on a pretty regular basis. It’s not too far between here and Clearwater.”

Chase patted Rachel’s shoulder. The news was all good. He knew how much she missed their children, how much she loved each of them. “I’d say this Christmas gathering has been the best ever. We’ve all come through some hard, trying and dark times.”

“Together,” Rachel whispered, Melody helping her continue to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “It was the love within the family that brought us all through it.”

Chase gazed down at his Rachel, loving her more, if that was possible, than he did when he met her on that fateful day so long ago. In his eyes, she hadn’t aged, the spirit of life in her eyes never dimming with the years. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“I love you,” he whispered, catching her glance filled with incredible tenderness for him alone. “Forever…”

Excerpt from
The Loner

A loner suffering from PTSD, former Marine Dakota Carson is wary of teaming up with the beautiful Deputy Shelby Wolfe. But when two convicts escape from prison, Shelby’s ability to track them is invaluable, and her healing touch is a balm to the wounded Dakota. Can old wounds heal before it’s too late? Read on for a sneak peek of THE LONER by Lindsay McKenna, coming July 2013 from Harlequin.

“He’s right about that,” Shelby muttered. “I want to track those two and land their asses back into federal prison like I did before.”

Dakota respected her decision. “I’m having a helluva time looking at your natural blond hair and grasping the fact you tracked them down.” Giving her an uneven grin, Dakota added, “That’s a backhanded compliment, Shel. Old dogs like me have to learn new tricks. Tracking isn’t a gender skill. I’m just too used to working with the men of my SEAL team. It just never occurred to me a woman could do it, too.”

Her shoulders slumped, the tension bleeding out of her. “Tomorrow, we need to start sniffing around, Dakota. I want to find them. My gut tells me they’re going to hole up in the Tetons.”

Nodding, he said, “Bingo. Welton hid in the mountains of Yellowstone. The last stolen car has put him in our vicinity. We’ll go see Cade tomorrow and start creating a mission plan to locate them.”

She saw the commitment in his eyes. “Are you really going to sleep outside every night?”

“Yes. It’s better this way.”
For you. For me.
He struggled and said, “I don’t like it, but I couldn’t live myself if I harmed you, Shel,” and he held her steady gaze. She was upset and concerned. Not for herself, but for him. His heart opened wide with feelings he’d never felt before. This woman had a SEAL backbone whether she knew it or not. She possessed the same fierce team spirit they did. He wanted to close the space between them and kiss her until she melted into him.

“Well,” she groused, trying to lighten the tension, “I’ll miss you.”

“Yeah?” It made him feel good for the first time in such a long time. She had the capacity to reach him in a place he thought had died when he was seventeen.

Shelby saw a slow, heated male smile touch the corners of his mouth. Recalling the scalding desire he’d sparked within her before, she felt herself respond powerfully to that glittering look in his eyes. Now, he was the wolf stalking her.

Don’t miss THE LONER by Lindsay McKenna, coming July 2013 from Harlequin.

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LINDSAY MCKENNA

As a writer, Lindsay McKenna feels that telling a story is a way to share how she sees the world. Love is the greatest healer of all, and the books she creates are parables that underline this belief. Working with flower essences, another gentle healer, she devotes part of her life to the world of nature to help ease people’s suffering. She knows that the right words can heal and that creation of a story can be catalytic to a person’s life. And in some way she hopes that her books may educate and lift the reader in a positive manner. She can be reached at www.lindsaymckenna.com or www.medicinegarden.com.

ISBN: 978-1-4603-1497-5

Dawn of Valor

Copyright © 1991 by Lindsay McKenna

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