by Julie Rowe
Willa opened her eyes and turned her head. Whoa, where had this horrible headache come from? Why was she lying on her own examination bed?
She tried to sit up, but a hand immediately pushed her back down.
“Where do you think you’re going, missy?”
Jason moved into view, his hand on her shoulder.
“What’s going on? Why am I…” She tried to sit up again and the thudding pain in her head tripled.
“You were in a plane crash.”
Willa blinked. Jason never was one to sugarcoat things.
“What day is it?” he asked.
“Um.” She actually had to think about it. Searching for the two boys, finding them on the ground, treating the injured one. She and Liam taking them to Fairbanks for proper medical care, then flying home. Liam professing his love for her. Grief at not believing it. Fear and regret as the plane plummeted toward the ground.
“Oh God,” she breathed, raising one shaky hand to feel the bandage on her head. “Liam, is he okay?”
Jason looked solemn. “I’d say you remember everything.”
“Where is he?”
“He left. I’m supposed to ask you if you have any abdominal pain or cramping.” Jason’s neck turned a rusty red.
“He left?” Gone. The word stabbed her in the gut. Gone. She knew he’d leave. He vowed, he swore, he gave his word he loved her, and now he was gone.
“Willa?” Jason’s concern brought her attention back to him.
She felt around her belly. “No cramps, no abdominal pain, just the worst headache ever.” At least her child was safe. “I need to have an ultrasound to make sure—” She couldn’t finish. What if her baby wasn’t unharmed?
“That’s what Liam said you’d want.”
Disappointment turned her stomach, and she had to close her eyes and breathe deeply before she was sick. She’d get through this, she would, and she’d find a way to survive. She’d done it before; she’d do it again.
“There’s a doctor coming,” Jason said. “He should be here in an hour or so. He’s going to check you over and stay to cover for you until you’re fully recovered.”
“A doctor? Here?”
Jason snorted. “Liam browbeat the town council into bringing a doctor in. Told them he’d sue their pants off if they didn’t do the right thing by you.”
“Oh.” She couldn’t think of what else to say. She’d argued with them for two years, but the council had always claimed they couldn’t afford a doctor. Liam had argued for her?
“You’re to stay off your feet until the doctor gives you a green light to go back to work.”
“Who gave that order?”
“Liam.”
Willa sighed. “I don’t like being told what to do.” Especially by a man who isn’t even here.
“Just follow the doctor’s orders, okay?”
“Of course, the baby is my first priority.”
“Good.” He grabbed his coat off a chair and shrugged it on. “I’ve got to go, but I’ll be back in a few days.”
She blinked. “Where are you going?” Everyone was leaving her?
“South. I have some unfinished family business to take care of. But, I’ll see you soon, kiddo.” He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “Elizabeth is right outside with orders to spoil you rotten, so don’t worry about a thing.”
“More of Liam’s orders?”
“Yep. He issued quite a few before he left.”
If only he’d stayed to issue them in person.
Her chest ached, hurt in a way she’d never had to endure before, and she realized that there was indeed one casualty of the plane crash…her heart.
The doctor, David Ketzle, arrived a few hours later with an ultrasound machine. He examined her, had a long look at the baby and pronounced them both fine. He allowed her to take on the clinic hours in Stony Creek while he continued to see her patients in Summerset Inlet and Fort Resolve.
She moved through the next three days in a daze. Though physically she was fine, emotionally she was a wreck. She tried not to think about Liam, tried hard because every time she did her heart ripped in two all over again. How could she have allowed herself to believe him? How could she have been so foolish?
Now he was gone.
At least he’d left her with the one gift he couldn’t take back. His child.
Three days after Liam left, Willa was looking in the ears of a five-year-old with a nasty cough and runny nose. It was right after lunch and the place was full of women and kids.
“Willa,” Elizabeth called. “Someone is here to see you. It’s not a medical appointment.”
“I’ll be right there.” She finished writing out a prescription for cough medicine for her young patient. “Make sure he takes the medicine thirty minutes before bedtime,” she said to his mother. “He should get a better sleep tonight.”
“Thanks, Willa.”
Willa walked out of the exam room to see who was waiting to speak to her.
Liam stood in front of the desk. He wore a huge grin. “Hi, beautiful, got a minute?”
Her jaw dropped. “Um—”
“Great,” he said and strode around the desk to approach her.
Jason followed him.
“What’s going on?” she asked, tensing up and glancing at Elizabeth and her waiting patients. Everyone was watching them with smiles all around.
“Uncle Jason is here as a witness,” Liam explained.
“To what?” Willa asked, looking wearily at Jason. She didn’t have the energy to argue with anyone.
“To this,” Liam said, getting down on one knee in front of her. He dug a hand into his pocket and produced a ring box. He cracked open the lid and held it out. “I decided that since telling you I love you wasn’t working, I’d show you instead. Willa Hayes, will you marry me?”
The waiting room erupted in cheers and clapping.
She stared at the ring, a beautiful princess-cut solitaire set on yellow gold, and whispered to Liam, “Are you insane?”
“Nope, just madly, passionately in love with you. I figured I’d better do everything I could to prove it, like get a ring and propose in public.”
“See, didn’t I tell you?” Jason said, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.
Could it be true? Liam really did love her the way a man was supposed to love a woman? “Yes, you did.”
“Tell you what?” Liam asked.
“He told me not to prejudge you.” She swallowed hard.
“Yep, lots of changes happening around here.” Jason nodded at Liam. “My brother and I have gotten over our twenty-year sibling spat and we’re going to drag Eagle International out of trouble.”
“What about Tundra Air?” Willa asked. “Who’s going to run that?”
“Me,” Liam answered. “It ought to keep me plenty busy. That and learning how to be a good husband and father.”
She stared at him with wide eyes. He was staying in the north and planning a future here? A future that included her and their child? “You’re not leaving again?”
“I’m back for good.” He stood, reached out and cupped her face with one hand. He wiped the wetness from her cheek with his thumb and smiled. “I love you and I intend to show you every day for the rest of my life.”
The noise from the waiting room had died down as everyone waited for her to respond to his proposal.
Willa looked at him, really looked and recognized his smile. It was the one he wore when no one else was around, the same one he wore whenever they made love.
He did love her.
Willa swallowed the last lump of fear and doubt and smiled back. “I love you times infinity, and yes, I’ll marry you.”
“We’re going t
o have ourselves a wedding,” Elizabeth announced, gleefully rubbing her hands together.
The waiting room erupted again and people surged to the desk, hugging each other and yelling their congratulations.
But Willa’s attention was on Liam as he leaned forward, pausing just before their mouths met to sing, “Liam and Willa sitting in a tree. K-i-s-s-i-n-g.”
“Stop talking,” she whispered. “And show me.”
So he did.
* * * * *
Looking for more great fiction to heat you up on the coldest of nights? Don’t miss Icebound , available now.
Driven to finish her late husband’s research, Dr. Emilie Saunderson travels to Antarctica, where she hopes to find a measure of peace. Damaged by his dark past, Tom Wolinski works at the bottom of the world and he’s vowed never to get close to anyone. But as Emilie and Tom work together to survive in the harshest of climates, they turn to one another for comfort. Is the heat between them enough to melt the ice around their hearts?
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About the Author
Julie Rowe’s first career as a medical lab technologist in Canada took her to the Northwest Territories and northern Alberta, where she still resides. She loves to include medical details in her romance novels, but admits she’ll never be able to write about all her medical experiences because no one would believe them! A double Golden Heart Award finalist in 2006, Julie’s writing has appeared in several magazines such as
Today’s Parent, Reader’s Digest (Canada) and Canadian Living. She currently facilitates communication workshops for her local city college. Julie enjoys hearing from her readers. You can reach her at www.julieroweauthor.com or on Twitter @julieroweauthor.
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ISBN: 9781426893629
Copyright © 2012 by Julie Rowe
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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