“I’ll do better than that.” Izzie smiled at her. She liked working with her. She was a nice woman, and the two years she had spent in the kindergarten had been good for her. She had grown up herself. “I’ll bring you back a sari.” She had a whole shopping list of things she wanted to find there—her peace of mind more than anything else. It was going to be a healing trip for her.
After she left Wendy, Izzie walked back to her apartment. She unlocked the outer door, and was just about to go upstairs when she saw him, off to the side, under a tree, in jeans and a camouflage jacket. He had the cane, but he wasn’t leaning on it. His beard was trimmed, and she could see he’d had a haircut. It was Sean. She looked at him, but she didn’t invite him to come in, and he walked slowly toward her.
“I’m back,” he said once he was standing next to her.
“So I see,” she said quietly. “I asked you not to come to see me again.” Her eyes told him she had meant it, and he looked wounded, but he couldn’t blame her. She didn’t look furious with him, just gone. Possibly forever. His disappearance from her life was what she wanted and he didn’t. She felt as though her survival depended on it.
“I just wanted to tell you something, in person, not over the phone, aside from the fact that I love you, which may be irrelevant at this point.” He had a terrifying feeling it was, from the look in her eyes. “I’m back. I’m coming home. You were right about my parents. It’s too much for them. The business is too hard for my father to handle on his own now. They never said a word to me, they didn’t ask me for anything, but I think I’ve done enough. We made a real difference this time. It damn near killed me, but it was worth it. We broke one of the most dangerous drug rings in Colombia. Their leaders are dead, we crippled them. There are others, but I can’t get them all. I know that now. It’s time for me to come home. I resigned from the Bureau two days ago. I just wanted you to know that. In case it makes a difference.”
“Should it?” She looked at him coldly. She was still angry at him, for what he had put them through in his long stints undercover. She knew his parents had forgiven him, but she hadn’t. He had a lot to make up for. “Do you think you can be happy without all that?” she asked him honestly, and he thought about it. They both knew he was addicted to the excitement and the danger.
“Maybe. I don’t know. I’ll miss the thrill of it, I have to be honest about that. I had a passion for it. But there are other kinds of passion that in the end matter more. I gave what I thought I had to. Now the rest belongs to me, or whoever wants it … like you, for instance,” he said in a whisper, “if you want me. I love you, Izzie … even more than I loved working undercover and hunting down drug dealers. I never knew that till I did it. All I thought about when I was down there, was coming back to you and having a life together.” She looked at him hard, trying to decide if he meant it, and if he could do it. He had come from a long way, in his heart, to find her. And what he was saying made a difference, a big one. It was all she had ever wanted, and now she knew it. She had known it when he came back the last time. He was her passion, and what had been missing from her life.
She nodded, after listening to him, and didn’t answer. There was too much to say to him, rushing over her in waves. “Do you want to come up?” was all she said, and then she smiled at him, and he followed her up the stairs. He was afraid to even reach out and touch her for fear she would evaporate in his fingers, like a mirage.
She started to put the coffee on, and then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, with the same passion that had burned between them the last time they had seen each other and had exploded out of control. The same thing happened this time, and the fire that had been dormant but had kept them alive for so long ignited and joined them to each other. They were one flame made of two people, with a love that had endured all the challenges and tragedies of life. But they were still standing, still alive, and still whole. They lay in bed afterward, breathless in each other’s arms. Sean smiled when he looked at her. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She always had been to him, and she was his now. She rolled over on one elbow and looked at him, with the same smile he had fallen in love with the day he met her in kindergarten. He was a happy man as he lay watching her, and she gently leaned over and kissed him, and said the words he had been waiting for: “Welcome home.”
This book is dedicated to Nick Traina and Max Leavitt, bright shining stars, and the footprints they left on our hearts forever.
And to my precious children, Beatrix, Trevor, Todd, Sam, Victoria, Vanessa, Maxx, and Zara. Please God, may you always be among the survivors. I love you so much!!!
Mommy/ds
By Danielle Steel
BETRAYAL • HOTEL VENDÔME • HAPPY BIRTHDAY • 44 CHARLES STREET • LEGACY • FAMILY TIES • BIG GIRL • SOUTHERN LIGHTS • MATTERS OF THE HEART • ONE DAY AT A TIME • A GOOD WOMAN • ROGUE • HONOR THYSELF • AMAZING GRACE • BUNGALOW 2 • SISTERS • H.R.H. • COMING OUT • THE HOUSE • TOXIC BACHELORS • MIRACLE • IMPOSSIBLE • ECHOES • SECOND CHANCE • RANSOM • SAFE HARBOUR • JOHNNY ANGEL • DATING GAME • ANSWERED PRAYERS • SUNSET IN ST. TROPEZ • THE COTTAGE • THE KISS • LEAP OF FAITH • LONE EAGLE • JOURNEY • THE HOUSE ON HOPE STREET • THE WEDDING • IRRESISTIBLE FORCES • GRANNY DAN • BITTERSWEET • MIRROR IMAGE • HIS BRIGHT LIGHT: The Story of Nick Traina • THE KLONE AND I • THE LONG ROAD HOME • THE GHOST • SPECIAL DELIVERY • THE RANCH • SILENT HONOR • MALICE • FIVE DAYS IN PARIS • LIGHTNING • WINGS • THE GIFT • ACCIDENT • VANISHED • MIXED BLESSINGS • JEWELS • NO GREATER LOVE • HEARTBEAT • MESSAGE FROM NAM • DADDY • STAR • ZOYA • KALEIDOSCOPE • FINE THINGS • WANDERLUST • SECRETS • FAMILY ALBUM • FULL CIRCLE • CHANGES • THURSTON HOUSE • CROSSINGS • ONCE IN A LIFETIME • A PERFECT STRANGER • REMEMBRANCE • PALOMINO • LOVE: POEMS • THE RING • LOVING • TO LOVE AGAIN • SUMMER’S END • SEASON OF PASSION • THE PROMISE • NOW AND FOREVER • PASSION’S PROMISE • GOING HOME
About the Author
DANIELLE STEEL has been hailed as one of the world’s most popular authors, with over 600 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international best sellers include Betrayal, Hotel Vendôme, Happy Birthday, 44 Charles Street, Legacy, Family Ties, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina’s life and death. Visit the Danielle Steel website at daniellesteel.com.
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