Authors: Brenda Minton
Heather braced herself. She'd once believed all the names he'd called her. She hadn't seen her true worth until she'd viewed herself through another's eyes. Shawn's eyes. He saw her as God saw her. Her chin rose.
Adrian couldn't take that away from her no matter what he did, but she suspected he was going to try.
He stepped forward, looming over her, using his height to try to intimidate her. She stood tall and maintained eye contact with him. Inside she was quivering, but outside she stood strong.
“You're going to come home with me. Now.”
She scoffed. “Not in this lifetime.”
Where were the police? What was taking them so long?
The fact that she'd talked back to him appeared to fluster him.
“I'm going to teach you a lesson you are never going to forget,” he promised, his voice rising with the excitement of hurting her. He raised his hand to slap her.
“I wouldn't count on that.” Shawn stepped out of the shadows, large and aggressive, the brim of his straw cowboy hat pulled low over his eyes. If Adrian was intimidating, Shawn was doubly so.
Adrian took a surprised step backward and pulled his fists up in a defensive stance against Shawn.
Heather had never been so happy to see anyone in her entire life. Not even the police could have topped the relief she felt at the appearance of this cowboy preacher.
“I don't know who you are, mister, but this isn't any of your business.”
“I'm making it my business.” Heather had never heard Shawn's voice so cold and hard.
“You'd poach on another man's turf?” Adrian asked snidely.
Heather's stomach lurched. That was how Adrian had always seen her. As his property and nothing more.
“I happen to love this woman,” Shawn informed Adrian coldly. “I've asked her to be my wife, and will be grateful until the day I die if she accepts me.”
“You can't do that,” Adrian growled. “I'm her man.”
“You're not a man.” Heather's throat closed around the words, nearly choking her. “You never have been.”
“Shut up,” Adrian spat.
“You speak to her like that again and you won't be standing on your feet,” Shawn warned. His voice was low and surprisingly steady, but there was no doubt he meant what he said.
“I can speak to her any way I please. She's my
wife
.”
“I'm not your wife,” Heather countered, her voice high and strained. “I haven't been for years. You may not want to accept it, but the state does. Get out of my life.”
“I told you to shut your trap,” Adrian yelled, raising his hand to her once more.
Shawn's fist came out of nowhere, connecting with Adrian's jaw with a satisfying crack. Adrian grunted and went down. Out cold.
Shawn shook his fingers out and shrugged down at the man on the ground. One side of his mouth curled up and he winked at Heather. “I warned him.”
“Yes, you did.” Heather started giggling and couldn't stop, so great was her relief.
He opened his arms to her and she sagged into him, clutching his shirt, nestling as close to him as she was able. He was so strong. Safe. Steady. She wished she could stay forever in his embrace, listening to the rhythm of his heart, but sirens broke through the silence, and Adrian groaned at their feet.
The police had finally arrived, and Adrian was waking up.
* * *
Heather excused herself to check on the kids while Shawn saw Adrian handcuffed and shoved into the back of Slade McKenna's patrol car.
“Sorry we were late to the party,” Slade apologized, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning his hip on the hood of his cruiser. “Serendipity is as quiet as a mouse and just as boring, until it's not.”
Shawn grunted. That was for sure. Like when an abandoned baby showed up in a manger at his chapel. Or a hazel-eyed beauty entered his life and turned it upside down and backward.
“We had a bit of an emergency at Jo's house. Her hip gave out again. You'd think after all the surgeries she's had that the doctors could keep her on her feet.”
“Is she okay?”
“Sure. You know Jo. She wouldn't let anyone fuss over her, and taking her to the hospital was completely out of the question. But she does like drama. She had everyone on duty at the fire department, all the paramedics, the cops and Dr. Delia swarming around her house like bees.”
“With Jo as the Queen Bee,” Shawn guessed.
“Exactly. So it took me and Brody a minute to unravel ourselves from her when the call came in. Of course, once she understood the situation, Jo was the first one pushing us out the door. We came as fast as we could.”
“It's all good. I was here before Adrian got too far out of hand.”
Slade laughed. “Yeah. It looks like you saved the day. Nice work, you decking him, Pastor. I would've done the same.”
“I'm not a fan of physical fighting,” Shawn admitted. “But I'm not ashamed of what I did tonight. The jerk was about to slap Heather. That's not going to happen while I live and breathe. Not ever.”
“He won't be here to bother her again anytime soon. He violated his parole by coming here, so he's going straight back into the can.”
“I'm glad to hear it. Heather has enough on her plate taking care of her kids without having to worry about Adrian lurking about.”
“Hopefully he'll learn his lesson this time.”
“I'm not holding my breath. He's not beyond the Lord's help, but that's what it's going to take to get through to him.”
“How did you know to be here, anyway?” Slade asked, his lips quirking into a lazy smile and his eyes gleaming with amusement. Shawn could see he already had his own theories as to the reasons Shawn might be near Heather's house so late at night.
Shawn still held out hope that Heather would accept his marriage proposal, but whether she did or not, he didn't want anyone spreading gossip about her reputation.
“Nothing shady, I promise you,” he said, shoving Slade lightly.
Slade laughed.
“No, really. Jacob called me. Heather had told him to watch over the younger kids and keep the bedroom door locked. Apparently she gave him her cell phone. He got kind of freaked out and called me. I came running.”
“Yeah. I'll bet you did.”
“Yes,” Shawn agreed, narrowing his eyes on Slade. “I did.”
“Just teasin' you, buddy. It's all good. I'm glad you were here.”
“Shawn?” Heather called, returning to the sliding glass door. “Did you want to come in for a bit? I've got Missy back in her own bed and Jacob all tucked in. And I just made a fresh pot of coffee.”
“Pour me a cup, will you? I'll be right in,” Shawn replied, before turning to shake hands with Slade. “Thanks for your help.”
“You've got it. Tell Heather I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner.”
“Will do.”
Shawn dragged his fingers through his hair as he stepped through the door and slid it closed behind him. He was still experiencing a mild sense of unease and he wasn't sure why. Adrian was going to jail. Heather and the kids were safe.
All's well that ends well, right?
And then, there it wasâthe lingering problem. All
wasn't
well for him. Not until Heather answered his question. Would she agree to be his wife?
The present threat was over and Adrian was on his way back to prison, but that didn't change a thing as far as Shawn was concerned. He would marry Heather yesterday, if he could. Or tomorrow. Or next month, or next year, as long as she said
yes
.
He found Heather on the sofa in the living room, her legs pulled up beneath her and a mug of coffee in her hand. She'd set another mug on the opposite side of the table next to the armchair, but Shawn slid it toward Heather and sat down right next to her with his arm across the back of the couch.
She wouldn't even look at him. She sipped her coffee in total silence, her gaze fastened on the black liquid in her mug. The easy camaraderie they'd shared just minutes earlier had vanished, replaced by an uneasy tension.
What was she thinking? He waited for the silence to prod it out of her, but she was stubbornly quiet.
“Heather, honey, talk to me,” he said at last.
“I guess I should thank you for rescuing me.” She laughed, but she'd never sounded so apprehensive before.
How could she think he was waiting for an expression of gratitude? Didn't she know him at all?
“There's no need for that, you know. Of course I came when I was called. I would have been there earlier if I had known. I'll always be there for you.”
“Waitâwhat? I didn't call you.”
He chuckled and brushed her hair back behind her ear with the pad of his thumb. “Not directly. Jacob did.”
“Jacob? I gave him my phone, but I didn't expect him to use it.”
“Mmm. I'm glad he did. Poor kid was frightened half out of his mind.”
“I didn't know whether I should wake him up or not when Adrian arrived. I should have thought it through better and left him sleeping. I've probably scarred him for life.”
“Naw. Don't beat yourself up about it. I made sure he knew he was a hero for protecting his brother and sisterâand protecting you by calling me.”
“But I want him to be able to be a child as long as possible. I feel like I've ruined it for him, forcing him to man-up before his time.”
“Boys appreciate a little responsibility. He got the chance to show you that you can depend on him. That's a good thing.”
“I'm still taking him out for ice cream tomorrow.”
Shawn chuckled. “Sounds good. I'll buy.”
She made a tortured sound from the back of her throat. “Shawn.”
Concerned, he narrowed his gaze on her. “What is it, honey? Talk to me. Please.”
She smiled at him, but there was so much agony in her eyes that it went straight to his gut, knife-sharp and stinging. She brushed the back of her fingers down his jaw as if it were the last time she was going to touch him.
Tension rippled through him as he waited for her to speak.
“Adrian is on his way back to prison.”
Right. Nice to know, but not exactly news. “Yes. And?”
She still refused to look at him, her gaze going no higher than his mouth.
“And you don't have to pretend anymore.” The words came out in a rush, stumbling over each other.
“I'm sorry?” What was the woman talking about? How was he pretending?
“It was so sweet of you. You'll never know how much I appreciate your help. Really. And I understand why you said what you said to Adrian. But now it's just you and me, and I'm letting you off the hook, so you can relax.”
She was
letting him off the hook
? What did that even mean?
He filtered through recent events, trying to figure out what he'd said to Adrian that Heather believed hadn't been entirely truthful. From what he could remember, there hadn't been many words in their altercation. Mostly it had been his fist on Adrian's face. Nothing dishonest about that, as far as he was concerned.
“You want to tell me what you're talking about?” Maybe if he had a hint.
She seemed to shrink into herself. “You said you loved me.”
Why did she make it sound as if he'd said that he thought she smelled like apple cider vinegar?
“Yes,” he agreed. Not like this was some great revelation, either. “I did. And?”
“I understand why you said it. But now that it's overâwell, I just don't want you to feel obligated to continue the charade.”
What
charade
?
“I feel like I've missed something,” he admitted, running a hand across his jaw.
Something major, apparently.
“I know why you asked me to marry you, Shawn. And that makes you the best kind of man there is. I'll never be able to find words to tell you what that means to me. You were ready to sacrifice everything for me and the kids.”
“Well, of course I was. Am,” he corrected himself, frowning.
The woman wasn't making sense. What good was a husband if he wasn't willing to sacrifice everything, even his own life, for his wife and children?
“I want to thank you, and tell you I appreciate it.”
“You already said that.”
“But it's over.”
Over?
After everything that had happened, she could just walk away from what they had together? Or had he been so wrapped up in his own emotions that he hadn't realized she didn't return the sentiment?
He reached for her chin, gently tipping it his direction so she had no choice but to look at him.
“Are you trying to tell me you don't love meâthat there's no chance you ever will?”
Her eyes widened to epic proportions. Her mouth moved, but no words came out.
“IâIâ” she stammered, trying to turn her head away, but he wouldn't let her, not holding her with his hand, but with his gaze.
“You...what?”
“I love you.”
He nearly sagged with relief, but his love for Heather flooded through him, bringing every nerve ending to life.
“That's good to know.”
“But I don't see how that changes things.”
Shawn shook his head. “Woman, if you don't stop talking in riddles, you're going to send me right off the deep end of crazy.”
“I love you,” she reiterated. “I can't deny it. But you don't love me, and I can't live like that. I thought about itâa lot. But I can't. I just can't.”
“But I saidâ”
“That you loved me. Under duress, to protect me from Adrian. I get it. But I'm not holding you to it.”
“I did not say I love you under duress.”
“What do you call it, then?” She didn't allow him to answer, but answered for him. “I call it self-sacrifice. Thinking of other people before yourself. And I applaud you for it.”