Cannon held her out a bit so they could see each other’s faces. “You are the most important thing to me, Daisy. Two days a week I work, that’s all.”
“And I get you the other five days of the week?” she asked.
“You get all of me,” he said eagerly. “I realized during all this … I love you, Daisy. More than I can say.”
“I love you too,” she said, goose bumps rising up and down her arms.
They smiled at each other and she knew that this man who had put his life on the line for her, for Pasha, for anyone who was defenseless, was the best man alive. He didn’t just throw around words like honor and duty and love of God—he lived it. And she, Daisy Mae Close, was the one he loved, the one he wanted to be with. It was more perfect than any fantasy she could come up with.
Cannon said, “We need to get back to the front car, but first …” he leaned in and kissed her. Daisy kissed back hungrily. This man had come for her, had risked his life to rescue her. The power and passion of the kiss told her that he’d been every bit as scared as she had been. When he deepened the kiss, she rose to meet him, giving every bit as much as taking.
The kiss was too short, but she knew they had to go. And she planned on many more encounters like that, on her time, with her real boyfriend, when she was all his.
As she lowered from him, she noticed her hand was wet, and when she looked closer, she saw it was blood.
“You’re hurt!”
“Just a little gun shot. Nothing life-threatening.”
“Little gun shot!” What was he talking about? “Where?”
“Shoulder and calf. Oh, and a graze on my bicep. And one on my side.”
“What? You need to lie down! Should I tie a tourniquet? Why are you acting like this is no big deal?”
Cannon chuckled. “One question at a time, and wait until we get back to the other car. I went through worse than this on a daily basis in BUD/S training.”
Daisy couldn’t believe it. Maybe he was messing with her. If he’d really been shot he wouldn’t be playing it off like this, would he?
He took her by the hand and turned toward Gustav.
“I can’t thank you enough,” said Cannon.
“I live to serve,” said Gustav with a little bow. “It was worth it to get to play with your toys.”
“Will you make that announcement and keep an eye on these two?” asked Cannon.
“Right away, boss.”
As Cannon and Daisy made their way toward the lead car—Cannon limping because he’d been shot!— she heard Gustav’s announcement.
Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for disturbing you, but we will have an extended stop in Sacramento. If there are any law enforcement passengers, or doctors or paramedics, please come to the front car if you are willing to assist us.
Well, that would freak people out. But given the choice between knowing what kind of violence had transpired versus being in the dark, the people with limited knowledge were better off.
Either way, Daisy had nothing to worry about. Her real boyfriend had made the right choice and protected Pasha. He had somehow survived about a million gunshots, even though he didn’t seem to notice the ones that had hit him—what did she expect from a former SEAL?—and she was safe and back with him.
Once again, Daisy gave herself a pinch but nothing changed. Somehow her real life had become even more wonderful than her fantasy life.
Chapter
Saturday night, eight days after the train incident, Cannon pulled up to Daisy’s house and climbed out of his SUV. After two days in England, he couldn’t wait to see her.
She didn’t even let him make it to the door but busted through it as he was walking up the steps and leaped into his arms. Her blonde hair covered his face, and he breathed in deeply her clean, yummy smell.
“I missed you,” he said, leaning back to see her beautiful, carefree face. Being with his buddies, pulling off an incredible mission, and performing a wedding on foreign soil had been extremely satisfying, but nothing compared with this woman who embodied everything good in the world, everything that made life worth living for him.
“You smell like an airplane,” said Daisy playfully.
“See if I taste like one.” He kissed her, even as she laughed, but she quickly returned the kiss. Oh, it was good to be back in the U.S. of A. It might have been his imagination, but Daisy always seemed to be smiling when he kissed her? Was it the natural shape of her lips, or was it just how he felt when he was around her, like all of the darkness he’d experienced was inert. The world was a bright place. Everything was going to be great.
“Mm,” she said, licking her lips. “Definitely not airplane. Thanks for coming straight here. How are your massive injuries?”
“My mere flesh wounds? Healing nicely. I barely notice them.”
It was obvious by her expression that she didn’t believe him. “And your jetlag?”
“Nothing compared with being awake on the train for 36 hours every week.”
“Come inside,” she said, pulling him up the walk. “Did you find out anything about the train stuff?”
“The FBI is investigating still. They think it was an attempt to get a huge ransom.” The rest of the topic would pull some of the joy out of his world, but luckily Daisy was here to keep him from feeling it. “I talked to Rasmus in the car on the way here.”
She must have sensed his disappointment because she turned to him with a frown once they were inside. “There’s more?”
“Rasmus and his ex have decided that as much as Pasha loves train trips, it’s not a reasonable mode of travel for her any longer. Sutton and I advised them of the same right after the incident, so it’s partially our fault.”
He was going to miss those long trips with that other little bright spot in his life. Why was he getting emotional about it? He’d still see her.
Cannon grunted away the ball in his throat and said, “She’ll be flying on daddy’s private jet back and forth between California and Washington from now on.”
“Oh, Cannon, I’m sorry.” She put a hand on his injured shoulder and he didn’t flinch. By not reacting when she touched his wounds, it kept her guessing, trying to remember which arm and which leg had been injured.
“He still wants me to provide security.” Miss Dee had been wrong about Rasmus not being happy. He was bowled over with emotion when he heard about the overwhelming odds against his little girl, said Cannon was obviously a superhero of some sort, and had told everyone involved that Cannon had handled the situation exactly right.
“That’s wonderful!” said Daisy.
“Yeah. He was extremely grateful that everything turned out so well for the good guys on the train.”
Daisy looked at her hand on his shoulder and slowly lifted it as she looked up to study his face. For a while they just looked at each other, and again Cannon knew she was all he needed in the world.
“This is the hurt shoulder, isn’t it? Why do you have to stand there and suffer in silence?” She bent and pulled back his sport coat and kissed his shoulder, making electricity shoot up his spine. “Why don’t you ever tell me?”
Cannon chuckled. “And risk having you touch me less? No way.”
She gave him a seductive look, with a little rise of her eyebrows and said, “Maybe I’d touch you more.”
Cannon’s mouth went dry and he felt himself blush hard.
That made her smile. “Come over here and talk to me while I finish getting ready.” She went into the bathroom and started putting some makeup on. “Same work schedule? Friday and Saturday?”
Cannon leaned against the wall in the hallway. “No, just Friday morning.” He wasn’t sure he wanted to tell her the next part. It was hard to explain his reasoning to someone who didn’t understand right from the start. He decided to give it a try. “Rasmus wanted to give me a big reward for … for doing my job. I say big reward, and for me it is big, but for him it’s chump change. A quarter mill.”
&nb
sp; Daisy’s eyebrows went up in disbelief and her makeup stick froze halfway to her face.
Cannon went on. “I turned him down. But he was super insistent.”
“That’s really nice of him,” said Daisy, putting half of her attention back on the mirror. She picked up some kind of pinching iron thing and started flattening her hair.
“He gave Gustav and Felix a reward also. He said something about matching their annual salary.”
“Wow. That says a lot about how much he cares about his daughter.” She sprayed something in her hair and then ironed it again. “Especially since she’s not even riding the train any longer.”
“I’m not taking the money,” said Cannon. She was going to think he was crazy. She might even try to convince him to change his mind. “The thought of it makes me feel like a sell-out.”
“That is so …” She put the hair implement down and walked over to him and locked eyes with him again. “So … like you.”
Already on the defensive, he wasn’t sure how to take that, since everyone else he knew would be making fun of him for it.
She was smiling up at him. “How lucky am I to have the only real boyfriend in the world who would turn down that much money strictly on principle?” She kissed him tenderly, then went back to her hair routine.
Well, that answered that. How lucky was he to have someone who would let that much money go without trying to convince him to reconsider? “Rasmus kept insisting, so I came up with an idea.”
Daisy raised an eyebrow, her interest piqued again.
“I’m going to start a ministry.” He hadn’t told anyone yet, and saying it out loud made him start sweating. “He’s going to donate the two hundred and fifty grand as soon as I get it set up.” The nagging doubt struck up again and he looked down at the floor. Who was he—a soldier, a killer—to claim to be a worthy servant of the Lord? Yeah, he’d counseled other soldiers, greeted churchgoers at the door, led the occasional Bible study, helped the youth in the church with the some fundraisers, and done some custodial work, but all those things could be done despite the blood on his hands. This was a whole new level of taking authority he wasn’t sure he deserved.
Daisy appeared in his view, peeking up into his posture. “Hey, where’s that patented Cannon Culver, life-is-good smile? You should be thrilled about this. You’re going to do so much good.”
Oh that was right. Now he remembered. He was someone who tried to amplify the light in the world. He was a man who would fight darkness with his last breath. He was best friends with the brightest five-year-old girl in the world. And he was boyfriend to the perfect woman.
“There it is,” she said, putting a hand on his cheek. “What’s wrong?”
Cannon could sense the doubts on the edges of his perception still, and he got all teary-eyed. He could tell her, right? She wouldn’t think he was crazy or stupid or presumptuous, right? “I just keep wondering what makes me think I’m worthy? After all I’ve been through, after all I’ve done. A bunch of Bible verses keep running through my head. No man takes this honor on himself. I am not fit to untie the thong of his sandals. Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful—”
“Hey,” said Daisy, putting a finger to his quivering lips. A tear broke from one eye and ran all the way down his face. She wiped it and asked, “Did Jesus turn any of them away?”
“What?”
“The people who said those things. Did he ever tell them they were unworthy, or were those just their own doubts?”
Cannon thought. As far as he knew, Jesus never told any sincere person anything like that. Wow, why had he never considered that before?
Daisy nodded, seeing the realization on his face. “You are worthy. He needs someone like you. The world needs someone like you. Now, what’s the focus of the ministry going to be?”
With his confidence renewed, the answer came easily. “There’s a lot of bad in the world and there’s a lot of kids who grow up surrounded by it. But there’s a lot of good too. I want to help inner city kids see the good, and focus on it. Whether that’s through sports, or the outdoors, or computer programming, or service. Whatever, I just want to bring in mentors to help them see that the good is there, if they just go find it.”
Daisy was still watching him with those supportive eyes of hers so he went on. “I’m almost positive I can team up with the church, so if the kids want to learn about Jesus, they’ll have the opportunity, but it won’t be required.”
“I … couldn’t be prouder,” said Daisy. “You’re the best man I know.”
That made Cannon even more emotional and he had to deflect or he’d start bawling again. “And you’re going to be late for your big night if you don’t finish getting ready.”
She went back to the bathroom counter and looked herself over, then picked up a lipstick.
“Wait,” he said, catching her in a funny, pursed-lips face. He kissed those lips, sliding his hand carefully behind her neck and she was quick to respond. In the three-day turnaround for his trip to England, he’d missed her more than he expected. Not just her lips, but how he felt around her.
As much as he wanted to just keep kissing her, they did have somewhere to be.
“Good idea getting that done before I got this on.” She went back to her makeup.
“Oh, there’s still no guarantee I won’t mess it up later.”
“That sounds fun.” She smiled at him as she walked past him and into her bedroom. “And I really think dusky rose is your color, which is good because I’m pretty sure you’ll be wearing some of it by the end of the night.”
He laughed and walked into the front room as she closed her door. Being here with her, and just having her in his life made him feel like the Lord knew him and wanted to tell Cannon that he was on the right path. Bad things would still come up in his life, but with a companion like Daisy, he could face them without letting them define him. And for the first time in his life, he thought he might actually feel worthy.
She came out a couple minutes later, backing out of the room. “Zip me up?”
Cannon couldn’t resist admiring her smooth skin just begging to be touched, and he ran a finger up her spine as he reached for the zipper.
“Mmm,” she moaned, doing a little shiver. “Those are the best goose bumps I’ve ever had.”
He smile and pinched the zipper, carefully tugging it upward. It felt fragile enough to rip off without even trying.
When he was done, she let her hair fall into place, then spun and held her arms out, showing off the little black dress she was wearing “How do I look?”
“You look better than a pizza and nap at the end of BUD/S.”
It was her turn to laugh and she came over to hug him and rest her head on his chest. He was careful not to mess up her hair or makeup.
“You look gorgeous,” he told her. “But I have to admit that you are always this beautiful to me. It’s your inner beauty, and how you help me see the good things in the world.” He kissed her gently on the forehead. “Come on. I can’t wait to see you win your big award tonight.”
She let him go and handed him her fancy jacket, which he helped her put on. “There is some dang stiff competition, and freelance editors never really win awards like this, so don’t be disappointed if I don’t pull a Cannon and achieve some superhuman feat in the face of impossible odds.”
“Oh great,” he said, “now I have to deal with unattainable expectations for the next fifty years.”
“Only I know your real secret,” she said, leading him to the door and locking it behind them. “You’re a wizard, like Harry Dresden. You are unstoppable.”
Grateful to escape the praise, he opened the car door for her and she climbed in.
They drove to his place, where he did a quick shower, shave, and change, then came out in a tuxedo. Of course it had some custom pockets for his gadgets. Not that anything would happen tonight at the fancy North American Book Awards banquet.
When she saw him, she wolf-whistled
and said, “My daydream about this moment wasn’t nearly as good as the real thing.” She put a hand on his freshly-shaven cheek and rubbed it for a minute. If the event wasn’t such a big deal he would’ve tried to get her to just stay in.
Cannon said, “If I look half as good as you do, we’re a shoe-in for hottest couple tonight.”
“Thanks, but I checked out the website and that isn’t an actual award there.”
“Oh well. Guess we’ll settle for Best Editor—Multiple Works.” He looked down at her lips and asked, “Is that lipstick dry yet? We should probably practice for the celebratory kiss.”
“Lipstick doesn’t dry,” she said, rolling her eyes. “It’s like you’ve never had a real girlfriend or something.”
“Why do you say that?” he asked. “Real boyfriend and real girlfriend?”
A guilty look crossed her face. He’d seen it enough to be sure that’s what it was and he could feel his own smile twisting in response.
“You’re busted,” he told her. “So tell me.”
“I know I’m busted,” she sighed. “I can tell by your little amused smile. At least let’s get in the car so I can think of how to describe it without embarrassing myself.”
He helped her into the car and as they pulled into the frustrating Saturday night L.A. traffic, she explained, “I do this thing in my head where I make up stories in my life. I think it’s a side effect of my job but I always paint it as more exciting and glamorous than it really is. Actually, I should say I used to do that. Since I started palling around with you, real life is more exciting than fantasy.”
“Wait!” he interjected excitedly. “You used to like zone out, like you were having a minor seizure or something. Mind switching. Was that the same thing?”
Her face turned red, and she refused to look at him. “Yes.”
He couldn’t help cracking up. “Oh, I love that so much. Ha ha ha. I was just asking if you minded switching seats, but I could tell by your face that you thought you’d been busted. Oh, man, that is hilarious.”
“If you’re done over there …” She waited until he had his smile under control. “In addition to making up fantasy events, I also used to think of cute guys as my fake boyfriend.”
The Peaceful Warrior Page 14
