The Knitting Diaries
Page 27
“You look lovely, honey. I love that red sweater, but only leave the top three buttons open. Any more than that, and you’ll be a medical hazard.”
Clutching her handwritten directions, Caro drove the last mile to the Naval Medical Center, waited for gate security to let her through, and then parked. While Morgan held Gage’s cat, Caro leashed the golden retriever for the short walk to the small garden where they had been directed to wait.
Five minutes passed. Nurses and attendants moved by them, smiling and nodding at the animals. Caro tossed Bogart his rope pull toy. “Your friend said someone would meet us here, Gran. I texted him when we got to the gate, the way he said.”
“Great dog you have.” Two wounded soldiers moved past on crutches, stopping to pet Bogart. Three more appeared. Soon Caro had a noisy group of patients clustered around her.
Bogart was restless, but gloried in all the attention, running through the commands that Peter and Caro had taught him over the past weeks. Caro managed the dog, while Bacall reluctantly accepted a leash, too, which produced even more comments.
“No animals on military grounds, ma’am. Not unless those are officially licensed service animals.”
Morgan heard a clipped voice behind her. She cleared her throat. “They were approved.”
“By whom?”
As she pulled Bacall away from a rosebush, Morgan had a sideways glimpse of a tall man, white hair, rows of medals against a navy uniform. “You want a name?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As Morgan watched the distinguished officer walk toward them, recognition hit. “Harris? My heavens, I wouldn’t have recognized you. So many medals. And you’re just as handsome as ever.”
The lean face softened. “And you are just as lethally beautiful, Morgie.”
“Morgie. Dear heaven, it’s been decades since anyone called me that.” Morgan gripped Bacall’s leash and watched the circle around Caro grow larger. Someone brought out a camera with a big flash. “You arranged this all very well, Harris. Knowing you, there is an excellent reason. So tell me.”
“Morale, maybe. Or doing an old friend a favor. Maybe both.”
“Good answer. Is Gage—is he here?”
Her old friend watched a second soldier pull out a camera. “They’re enjoying this, I’d say. Your granddaughter looks very good at making strangers feel comfortable.”
“Yes, she is. But you didn’t answer my question, Harris. Where is Gage Grayson?”
The distinguished officer pointed to the far side of the garden. “Several of those men are from his squad. Several others didn’t make it back. Things went bad fast, Morgie. Too many casualties. Without First Lieutenant Grayson, the statistics would have been a whole lot worse. We all owe him. I don’t forget things like that,” he said gruffly. His eyes darkened as he looked at her. “In fact, there are a lot of things I don’t forget.”
Caro felt Bogart tug at his leash, swinging around sharply. The men around her laughed as the dog pranced back and forth, tail wagging furiously.
She didn’t see the small crowd behind her part. She didn’t see the shadow that fell over her shoulder.
“Bogart, sit. Be good and sit, honey. It shouldn’t be long now.”
Caro smoothed her sweater nervously while Gage’s retriever turned in a frenzied circle, barking and ignoring every command.
“Honey, settle down.”
A hand opened on her shoulder.
Startled, Caro looked up. She forgot about her surroundings and the crowd gathered around her.
Her heart twisted in her chest.
He was thinner. Tougher. His face was lined and sunburned. In one glance, Caro felt as if she had come home to a place she had searched for forever, a place where this man waited, with his laugh threading through her dreams and his touch wound right around her heart.
His laugh was hoarse. Its strength filled her, just as the feel of his arms around her waist left her dizzy. In a moment she was caught against his chest while Bogart barked furiously, shoving his way between their bodies.
“I have your pictures,” Gage whispered, his face against her hair, his hands locked on her waist. “I had them with me for three days, out on a ridge at the back of nowhere.” He held out a crumpled, dusty computer printout. Caro saw that it was her sketch of Bacall, sleeping on her back in the sunlight. “And you told me you couldn’t draw,” he said in a low, rough voice.
Someone laughed. “Kiss her, Lieutenant. Go on. Stop talking already.”
Gage pressed the paper into Caro’s hand. “I kept it with me all the time. I could feel you when I touched it. I carried it inside my jacket day and night.” His voice tightened and then he reached down, laughing when Bogart licked his hand wildly, with the full measure of a pet’s unstinting love. He laughed again when he caught sight of the clumsily knit bandanna tied jauntily around his dog’s neck—Caro’s gift to him. Bacall was staring up at him, eyes huge.
A video camera whirred, but neither Gage nor Caro cared, oblivious to everything but each other.
Caro held out a navy blue wool hat with a misshapen, irregular brim. She smiled crookedly. “Here’s your gift. It’s pretty ugly, I’m afraid, but I promise that a lot of work went into it.”
“I love it.” Gage pulled her closer. “I would have called you, but they wouldn’t let me talk. There was an explosion and I got buried. My throat was messed up. And then—well, I didn’t want to write down words and have someone else say them to you.”
“It sounds very sexy. I like it.”
Gage traced her cheek with a bandaged hand. “Strongest woman I ever met,” he said huskily.
His mouth skimmed hers and he took another raw breath. “I love you, Caro. Bogart and Bacall—we all love you. I think I loved you from the first second I saw you in that doorway back in Oregon, with dust on your cheek and sunlight in your hair.” He kissed her hard. “We all want to make our life part of yours. Now and forever.” His eyes were dark, searching her face. “Is that going to be a problem?”
Now and forever.
Caro smiled up at him, loving the feel of his hands and the little lines at the corners of his eyes. She felt dizzy and alive in a way she’d never thought was possible. “Now and forever, Lieutenant? That sounds like a good mission plan to me. You’d have to fight hard to get those two guys back now anyway. They walked into my life and charmed me right off my feet. So you’ve got your now and forever. But…”
Gage didn’t move. “But?”
Caro slid her fingers through his hair. She watched his eyes take on depth and emotion. With a deep breath, she leaned closer, her future laid out before her.
Attitude was everything.
“My only problem right now…well, like the man just said, Gage. Why don’t you stop talking and kiss me again?”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8735-2
THE KNITTING DIARIES
Copyright © 2011 by MIRA Books
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
THE TWENTY-FIRST WISH
Copyright © 2011 by Debbie Macomber
COMING UNRAVELED
Copyright © 2011 by Susan Macias Redmond
RETURN TO SUMMER ISLAND
Copyright © 2011 by Christina Skye
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