by Julie Miller
Mac was terrified of what he might or might not see. But with Julia there beside him, he could face anything. With that thought in his heart, he opened his eyes.
“I see a light.” His voice was breathless, hopeful. “Do you have dark hair, Dr. Perulakhar?”
“Black as pitch.”
Mac squeezed his eyes shut and nearly wept. “I have one thing, more than any other, that I am dying to see.”
He turned toward Julia’s warmth, her heady scent, and opened his eyes again.
They were green. No, brown. No, a wonderful combination of green and gold.
“Hazel.”
“Excuse me?” asked the doctor.
Mac’s wide smile almost hurt his face. “She has hazel eyes.”
“You can see me?” He saw her smile match his. “You can see me!” Julia released his hand and hugged him tight. “That’s wonderful.”
Mac swung his legs off the edge of the bed and pulled her right up between them. This was better. Much better. He buried his nose in the fresh scent of her soft brown hair.
The doctor, who understood the type of recovery his patient needed at that moment, excused himself from the room.
Mac framed her face between his hands and drank in all the details with his miraculous eye. Her face was a delicate oval with flawless skin dotted with tan freckles that would keep her looking young her entire life. She had slightly tilted brows over wide, almond-shaped eyes. A straight, proud nose. A full, beautiful goddess’s mouth with a dimple at one side.
And then because there was nothing more fitting to do, he kissed her. Gently, longingly, reminding himself of her taste and her shape and her touch while he memorized the sight of her as well.
But suddenly, that heaven of discovery was torn away from him.
In a breathless gulp of panic, Julia flattened her hands on his shoulders and pushed herself away. She would have left him entirely if he’d released his hold on her waist.
“You can see me?” The first time, the question had been full of joy, full of thanks. This time, he heard the old Julia’s voice. The one who thought she wasn’t pretty.
But he had a plan in mind for such a contingency. She might not believe the emotions of his heart. Yet. But the woman couldn’t argue with logic.
“Jules. What do you find attractive about me?”
She frowned. “What?”
Mac smiled gently. He needed to push her a little, but not push her away. “I’m not fishing for compliments. I’m proving a point.”
Her shoulders lifted in an confused shrug, and that bottom lip pouted out in a tempting curve as she searched for a thoughtful answer.
“Your mind. It’s so powerful. That kind of power is sexy.” Her magic fingers played nervously at his shoulders as she continued. “And your heart. I love how you stick with a thing until it’s done. That determination to know the truth. And your devotion to your family. It shows your kindness, your caring. That’s all attractive, I suppose.”
Mac felt his skin heat beneath her flattering words. “Thank you.” She’d given him more than he expected, more than he had hoped for. But he was making a point, so he continued. “My tight butt didn’t even make the top three on your list.”
“Mac.” Julia blushed, and he couldn’t resist lifting his fingers to her cheek to feel the rise in temperature there. “That’s different—”
“How?” He had her now. He looked straight into those eyes of verdant gold and dared her to deny his logic. “How can you see me that way, but I’m not allowed to perceive you in the same way?”
She was floundering in self-doubt now. He could feel her desire to believe in the clutch of her fingers on his shirt.
“Why can’t I love your mind? Your gentleness? Your stubborn, hardheaded determination to do what needs to be done, even when it’s unpleasant or hard or dangerous. But because you believe in it, you do it.”
“Mac—”
“I can tell you about your sexy hair and soft skin. And your body…” He exhaled deeply, steeling himself on this one. It was beyond his imagining for her to think her body was unattractive. “You’re not a stick figure.” He leaned back to look at her, and let the awe he felt shine through his eyes. “You have these wonderful curves for a man to hold, to fantasize about…” He stopped there, feeling his body heat with the fantasies he was already imagining.
He leaned forward then, cupped her chin in his hand and spoke gently. “And your eyes are more beautiful than I could have imagined.”
“Mac—”
He should have noticed the change in her hold on him, how her hands had slipped behind his neck. How she’d pressed herself closer to the edge of the bed.
“Have I ever lied to you?”
“No.”
“Then believe this.” Cool, calm, rational Mac Taylor shut off his mind and spoke with his heart. “Your beauty is in here,” he touched her forehead, “and here,” he touched her heart.
“And here.”
He brought his hand back and touched his own heart.
“I love you, Julia Dalton. But I want you to love yourself. I want you to see yourself the way your parents and friends do. The way I do. I want you—no, I need you—to believe that I love you for who you are.”
She stood there, silent. Thinking. He’d wanted her to think, right? But it was so long, and she was so quiet, and he began to wonder if maybe logic wasn’t the way for a man to declare his love to the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
“Do you really think I have pretty eyes?”
Mac laughed out loud with relief. “Out of all I said, that’s what you heard?”
Julia started to snuggle and Mac started to hope. “I heard that…you love me. And I believe you. You’re a man of honor, Mac. I don’t think it’s in you to lie.”
His heart soared. But he caught himself before celebrating. This was so important to him. “So you believe me when I say you’re beautiful?”
She climbed up into the bed beside him, hugging herself close, pressing all those wonderful curves against him. “To be honest, ‘beautiful’ may take some getting used to. But I do feel awfully sexy when you’re around.”
Mac grinned. He wrapped her in his arms and fell back onto the bed with Julia draped on top of him. “I like sexy.”
He kissed her then. Passionately. Earth-shakingly. He closed his eyes and savored the feel of her in his hands. He opened his eyes and drank in the sight of her subtle, wonderful beauty.
And then he realized he might have broken through her false image of herself, but he had yet to hear the one thing he needed to hear most.
He rolled onto his side, keeping her close, but reluctantly ending the kiss. “So—you think you could learn to love me?”
Julia circled her arms around his neck and gave him the earth goddess of all smiles. “You know, for a smart guy, I’m surprised you never figured it out.”
“What?”
“That I’ve always loved you, Mac Taylor.”
Epilogue
Three Months Later
Julia looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror and smoothed the sheer neckline of her ivory wedding gown. For just an instant she saw herself as she was fifteen years ago—a freckle-faced plain Jane with shiny braces and frizzy hair. The way she’d mistakenly viewed herself for so many years.
And then she saw herself the way Mac did.
The way she saw herself now.
Barbara Dalton put the last pin into the crown of ribbons and silk roses that adorned her daughter’s hair. “What’s that smug look all about?” she asked, hugging Julia from behind.
Julia covered her mother’s hand where it rested on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I’m glad you didn’t let me quit, Mom. I wanted to run home and hide from the things that hurt me. But now I realize that facing them made me stronger.”
Barbara adjusted the veil. “You’d have figured that out soon enough.”
Matching pairs of hazel eyes met in
the mirror. “Did you know that Mac was my hero when you sent me to work for him?” asked Julia.
Her mother’s cheeks flushed. She and Martha Taylor made no bones about conspiring to help her and Mac get together, but Julia doubted she’d ever hear the whole story behind their motivation. “I knew something had happened when you were in high school. And that you always felt indebted to him. I thought that obligation would motivate you to stick by his side.” Her mother’s gaze sank to the floor. “I had no idea I was putting you in danger.”
Julia turned and hugged her. “You aren’t responsible for anything Joe Niederhaus did. Maybe by the time Dwight Powers gets done prosecuting him for bribery and conspiracy to commit murder and everything else he did, he’ll understand how many people he’s hurt.” Julia pulled away, pinpointing her mother’s gaze, making sure she understood that neither she nor Mac blamed her for those perilous days they’d survived on the run together. “I can never thank you enough for believing in me even when I didn’t.” Her face softened into a serene smile. “Thanks for raising me to be strong.” Then she remembered the purpose of this day and her happiness bubbled up into full-blown laughter. “And thanks for moving across the street from the Taylors when I was in third grade.”
Her mother’s laughter matched her own. “I knew you’d trip up one of those Taylor boys, eventually.”
“I always knew the one I wanted.” Julia sobered at the love for Mac that filled her heart and made her soul complete. “I’m a lucky woman.”
Barbara handed her her bouquet of pink and ivory roses. She blinked back the telltale tears that glistened in her eyes. “He’s a lucky man.”
Minutes later, Julia walked down the aisle of the small, historic chapel. She clung tightly to her father’s arm and smiled at the friends and family gathered to share this crisp winter afternoon.
Mitch Taylor, staunch leader of the Fourth Precinct, stood at the back of the church, cradling his brand new baby boy, Mitchell Taylor III, on his broad shoulder. Little Mitch had his mother’s red hair and his father’s bellowing voice. But Julia didn’t mind the infant’s tired cries. In moments, he quieted with a pint-sized yawn and fell asleep, secure in his father’s arms. As secure in the love of a good Taylor man as she was.
She spotted Merle Banning’s metal crutches leaning against a pew and stopped to take his hand and give it a heartfelt squeeze. Without his brave sacrifice, neither she nor Mac would be here. The pain in his rebuilt leg was evident in his deep green eyes, though he returned Julia’s smile. Over the past few months, he’d become more than a welcome friend to the Taylors. He’d been adopted as an honorary brother into the family, and Mac had promised him a position on his forensic team if he was interested in the job when he returned to work.
Beside him sat his partner, fair-haired Ginny Taylor. Her husband, Brett, would be at the altar, standing up as Mac’s best man.
Josh and his devilish grin came next. Julia prayed he’d been kind to Mac’s truck, and that there’d be no surprises beyond a few tin cans and a Just Married sign. She crossed her fingers against her father’s arm.
Then there was Gideon Taylor, and Mac’s sister, Jessie.
Julia let her gaze drift to the front of the chapel. Cole stood to the left of the minister, looking handsome and mysterious in his black tuxedo. His smile softened the dangerous cut of his expression as he reached out for her bouquet.
“You’re sure you’re okay with this best man for the bride thing?” Julia raised her eyebrows in an apologetic grimace.
But Cole had no qualms about his unusual role in the wedding. He kissed her cheek after Julia’s father joined her mother in the front pew. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else today, old pal. You just make him happy, okay?”
“I’ll do my best,” she promised.
“Mind if I kiss the bride today?” Mac’s raspy voice sang along her nerves like a secret caress. He reached for her as he always had. Needing her. Wanting her. Loving her.
Julia laced her fingers through his and joined him at the altar. She looked up into his eyes, shining down on her like silver behind the gold rims of his glasses. She silently mourned the loss of his full vision, but sent up a prayer of thanks for the miracle that restored sight to his right eye. And the miracle of love that had brought them together.
“I love you, Mac.”
“I love you, Jules.”
He bent down and pressed his lips to hers, claiming what she had always longed to give him. Praising her and loving her and thanking her with the wonderful heaven of his kiss.
The minister cleared his throat. Twice. “Shall we take care of business first?”
With a grudging reluctance that made her laugh, Mac stepped back. But he never released her hand. She never released his.
“By all means. I can’t wait to make this woman my wife.”
MARTHA TAYLOR pressed her hand to her mouth, and tried not to cry again as she watched her son bend down to kiss his new wife as they waltzed by. Imagine. Mac dancing. Enjoying life, no, loving life once more. “I never thought I’d see the day. Mac is so happy.”
Barbara Dalton stood beside her friend with her hand pressed over her mouth, wondering if she’d ever seen her daughter so happy. “He’s so romantic with her. So attentive.”
“He’s never loved anyone else.”
“She’s never loved anyone else.”
Martha nodded, pleased with herself, pleased for their children. “I knew she was perfect for him.”
“He’s just the man she needed.”
Martha and Barbara’s shoulders lifted in unison. Their wistful sighs were drowned out by the laughter and music and conversation from the wedding reception around them. Then Martha’s lips curved into a maternally satisfied smile. She stuck out her right hand. “Mission accomplished?”
Barbara laughed and shook her hand. “Mission accomplished. If we hadn’t have helped, those two might never have found each other.”
“They were destined to be together. We just gave them the opportunity they needed to discover that for themselves.”
“Agreed. Now what?”
After a brief pause, an inexplicable twinkle of energy lit between the two mothers. That special gene that lay dormant until a woman reached a certain age of maturity and life experience sprang to life. In a shared heartbeat between friends, the plotting for their next project began. They smiled at each other and spoke as one.
“Grandbabies!”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-6749-1
IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE
Copyright © 2002 by Julie Miller
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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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*The Taylor Clan
*The Taylor Clan
*The Taylor Clan
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