by Hope Ford
I can’t stop it, my hand goes to cover my face. “Mom, no, he wants a relationship.”
She looks at me completely perplexed now.
“And you don’t like him?” she asks me.
I don’t answer her question. I can’t. “He’s an FBI agent, Mom. You know I don’t date officers. Now you can add FBI to the list.”
She shakes her head at me and I can already tell that a speech is coming on. “Honey, do you like him?”
When I start to argue with her, she stops me by holding her hand up. “Answer me, do you like him?”
My shoulders slump and I can’t stop the rambling blubber that comes out of my mouth. “Yes, he’s all I’ve thought about. I broke it off with him and now he’s away on another case. I’ve tried to get Lincoln to find out if he’s okay, but even Lincoln can’t get any information. But him going away just reassures me that I wouldn’t make it if we were in a relationship. I mean look at me. I’m falling apart.”
Her arms go around me, and I can’t stop the sobs from wracking through my body. She holds me and lets me get it all out. When I finally calm down, she asks me if I’m okay.
When I nod my head against her, she holds me at arm’s length. “Honey, this is all my fault. I thought I should let you figure this out on your own, but I have to ask you, do you think if I could go back to before I met your father, do you think I would do anything differently?”
I don’t even hesitate. “Absolutely,” I assure her.
She gasps, “No, no, Chrissy. I wouldn’t change a thing. All those years with your father. They were the best years of my life. Not only because of my love for him, but he gave me you and your brothers. I wouldn’t change anything about my life.”
I wipe the tears from my cheeks. “But what about after he died, Mom? I was there and I saw what it did to you. I would never want to go through that.”
She puts an arm around me and says to me gently, “Honey, I didn’t handle any of it right. I put so much responsibility on you three, especially Lincoln. I wasn’t any kind of mother. I fell apart. But honey, you are so much stronger than me. Hell, you’ve proven that over and over. If you love Lane like I think you do, you can’t give that up, Chrissy. Not because you’re scared. You’re stronger than that.”
I sit there in my mother’s arms, taking in everything she has said. Could she be right? Should I give him a chance? Lost in thought, I don’t hear my phone ring until my mother is shoving it in my hand.
Looking at the caller id, I answer, “Hey, Lincoln.”
He starts talking, but there is so much background noise I have to get him to repeat himself. He tells me to come to the hospital downtown, that Lane was brought in a few hours ago. I don’t even ask him what happened. I briefly explain to my mom and then race to Lane.
I don’t even remember how I got here, but as soon as I walk in the emergency department doors, Lincoln comes up to me, puts his arm around me and escorts me down the hallway.
“Is he okay?” I ask him. I didn’t ask him on the phone, because all I was worried about was getting to him.
He stops walking and in turn I stop and turn. “He was shot, Chrissy. He’s in surgery now.”
I would have collapsed if Lincoln wasn’t there to hold me. “He’s going to be okay. Nothing vital was hit. They said he’s just going to be sore for a while.”
I can’t talk, hell, I can’t even think. I follow him down the hallway and to a surgery waiting room. The room is full of FBI agents and we sit down in two empty seats.
The man I am sitting next to turns to me and asks, “Are you Chrissy?”
I nod at him curiously.
“Good. You’re all Lane has talked about. I’m glad you’re here.”
I smile at him and I can’t stop the tear that rolls down my face. What if something bad had happened to him? What if he died thinking I didn’t want him? I shake my head, pissed off at myself thinking about everything I’ve put us both through.
A doctor comes through the door and everyone in the room stands up. “He’s going to be fine. We extracted the bullet. He will have to stay a few days, but he should have a full recovery. You can go see him soon. They are wheeling him up from recovery now.”
I watch as Lincoln and the FBI assistant director shake the doctor’s hand. I say bye to Lincoln and then walk back toward Lane’s room with the AD. He tries to make small talk on the way, but I’m so concentrated on just getting to Lane I don’t even respond. He opens the door and I walk ahead of him into the room.
Lane
I know the minute she walks into the room. I wondered if anyone would call her or not. Hell, I know I’ve talked about her enough that people know how important she is to me. I try to open my eyes, but I can’t. I feel her slide her fingers through mine, and I tighten my fingers to hold on to her.
My boss came with her and I can hear him talking to her, but she doesn’t say much. It could be minutes or hours that go by before I hear him leaving the room.
I hear the scraping on the floor and I am assuming she is pulling a chair up to the bed. But she doesn’t release her hold on my hand; if anything, her hand tightens in mine. Once she’s settled, I hear her sniffle and I want to open my eyes and reassure her, but I’m still so groggy.
“Lane, I don’t know if you can hear me or not, but I have to say this. I love you. I love you so much. The last two weeks, all I could do is think about you and how much I missed you.”
She pauses for a minute and then begins again.
“I never wanted to date a policeman because I saw what it did to my mom when my dad died. But my mom helped me work through it and I think she’s right. Even if I only have one month, one year or, hell, twenty years with you, it would be worth it. I hate that this happened to you and you thinking that I didn’t want you… not knowing that I love you…”
I groan but mutter the words, “I love you too, Chrissy.”
She pounces on me. “Lane, oh my God, Lane, wake up honey, show me your baby blues. Please, I want to see your eyes, honey.”
I open my eyes and look at her. Tears are pouring down her face. She has no makeup on and her eyes and lips are swollen but she’s still the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.
“Are you okay?” she asks me, looking at the bandage on my shoulder.
Squeezing her hand, I tell her honestly, “I couldn’t be better.”
Epilogue
Lane
Chrissy didn’t leave my side the two days I was in the hospital. She told me it was because she owed me, but I knew it was because she loved me.
Once she made up her mind, she committed to me fully. Her commitment never faltered. I told her she had to be sure, I can’t go back and forth with her, not on this. I told her that I was going to marry her and fill her with my babies… just because I want her to know exactly what she was getting herself into. All she did was smile widely at me and nod.
“Okay, honey. Whatever you want,” she assured me and laughed.
Hell, she doesn’t even know. I would marry her tomorrow if I could plan it all from the couch. I’ve been off work for a week now considering my options. I’m thinking about switching jobs at the department, just because I don’t want to do undercover work anymore and be away from Chrissy for long periods of time. I’m not lying when I say I’m going to get her pregnant. That’s next on my agenda, as soon as she puts my ring on her finger.
Chrissy
Lane didn’t waste any time. He told me when he got out of the hospital that I have one month to plan a wedding. I didn’t argue with him on it. I wanted to be his wife… more than anything.
Our ceremony was perfect. We only invited family and a few close friends. Lincoln gave me away and he even had a tear in his eyes when he did it. I know that it was tough for him. In a way, it’s like he is my father and he was giving away his little girl. Even when I was little and Dad was still alive, it was Lincoln that always carted me around to games and practices, always there cheering me on.
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br /> Looking around the room of people at the reception, I can’t help but be thankful for everything that has happened to me and my family.
Our dad dying was devastating to all of us. And it affected us all in different ways. Luckily, even though the pain is still there, it is more bearable now. Probably because I know that my dad is looking down on me, happy and proud of the woman I have become and the man I have chosen to marry. I know without a doubt that he would love Lane.
Lincoln is slow dancing with his wife on the dance floor. I’ve seen a difference in them lately. I’m so happy that they have found each other. She brought sunshine back into my brother’s life and he deserves happiness more than anyone.
I laugh at my younger brother Jase holding his baby and his wife in his arms. We always made fun of him and his ways of being a player growing up. He was always the cocky one. But he met Korie and she tamed him, made him a better man. I’ve never seen him happier than since he found her.
And my mom is in the corner drinking her glass of champagne. I worry about her being alone, but she is always assuring me that she knows she will never find another love like my dad’s. “His love… Chrissy, his love was enough to last me a lifetime,” she told me earlier today before I walked down the aisle. The way she said it, I know she was sincere. And watching her now, her face shining with love and happiness, I have to be happy for her.
“Do you want to dance, my wife?” Lane asks me as he sets my glass of champagne on the table. I look up at him and still can’t believe that I almost threw this all away. My life is finally complete and he proves to me every day that I have made the right choice in giving him a chance. The love he gives me so freely, the way he protects me, looks over me and loves me – I don’t even second-guess myself. I know I’ve made the right decision. Lane is the love of my life and I know if I lose it all tomorrow, next year, or forty years from now – he makes it all worth it.
THE END
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Bestselling short romance author Hope Ford writes short, steamy, sweet romances. She loves tattooed, alpha men, instant love stories, and ALWAYS happily ever afters. She has over 70 books and they are all available on Amazon.
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