Sudden Recall
Page 24
Eden was so overjoyed with relief she was incapable of movement until her father squeezed her arm. “He’s waiting for you, honey. Go.”
And Eden went.
The nurse conducted her to the ICU, leaving her outside Shane’s cubicle with a firm “Fifteen minutes. No more.”
Eden nodded and went eagerly into the cubicle, catching her breath at the sight of Shane in the elevated bed. He was no longer on a ventilator, but he still wore a blood pressure cuff and IV drips. Bandages swathed his naked chest.
He looked awful, his sun-streaked hair rumpled, a stubble of beard on his jaw, his face all hollow and drawn. Awful and at the same time wonderful. And she had never loved him more than in that moment.
His brown eyes were alert, though, the golden lights in them full of energy. They turned immediately to her, following her every movement as she entered the cubicle and slid into a chair at his bedside.
“So, you were worried about me, huh?” he said, his voice hoarse from both the anesthetic and the ventilator.
“Maybe a little,” she admitted.
“That much?” He was still capable of a wicked grin. “You shouldn’t have been. This body of mine is already so battered, what’s one more hole in it?”
She would have kissed that hole if it had been available to her. Instead, she reached for his hand and held it lovingly, all the while feasting her eyes on him.
“Is that all I get?” he demanded.
“Until you’re stronger, and then we’ll see what else can be managed.”
“Well, listen—” He grimaced, evidence he was still in pain as he shifted into a more comfortable position. Eden was immediately on her feet and leaning over him, but he waved her back onto the chair. “No time for that. We’ve got to talk. They’re only giving us twenty minutes.”
“Fifteen,” she corrected him.
“Okay, but there’s a lot that needs to be said.”
“Shane, do you think you should be making this kind of effort?”
“Oh, yeah, definitely. See, I’ve been thinking about those two windows.”
What on earth was he talking about? Was he delirious?
“You remember,” he said. “The window with the broken catch in Harriet Krause’s apartment and the one in the art museum that was too easy to open. They gave me this idea. About my future, that is, when the army and I finally part company.”
“You’re planning your future?”
“I have to, now that I’ve put the past behind me. No more anguish over the ambush in South America. You led me out of that jungle, Eden.”
“I did?”
“By believing in me, yeah. Well, that and what I’ve come to feel for you. A good marriage will do that for a man.”
He gave Eden no opportunity to ask him exactly what he did feel for her or to remind him that their marriage had been no more than a pretense. He was too busy telling her about their future.
“Anyway, I was thinking that with my training, I’d be a good protection specialist. You know, a security consultant for both private and public enterprises. And you being a P.I. makes it perfect.”
“It does?”
“Yeah, a team operation. That’s what I was thinking. So, what do you think?”
“You’d have to settle in Charleston.”
“Where else. The thing is…”
“What?”
“I’d really like to make this more than just a business proposition.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Something more than a marriage of pretense. I was kind of hoping for a marriage for keeps. Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Being married to the brother of the woman who stole your kid, even though he is crazy in love with you, is something you couldn’t handle.”
“That’s not an issue. I’ve already forgiven her. You’re in love with me?”
“Absolutely.” Shane was relieved, but she still hadn’t said she loved him. “Then if you’re ready to move on, and if you feel for me even half of what I feel for you, maybe…”
The rest was up to her. He watched her anxiously, hopefully, as she sat there and pondered his proposal. What if she turned him down? Shane didn’t think he could deal with that.
Hell, he’d been a loner for years, needing and wanting nothing else but the army. He saw now how sad that was. And no longer true. Eden Hawke had come into his life, this wonderful, precious woman, and if he lost her—
“I’m going to have a relapse here if you don’t say something,” he teased.
“I was just remembering something myself,” she said softly. “What you asked me that night you came to me out of the storm. ‘Am I home?’ I have the answer for you now, Shane. You are home.”
“Yeah?” he said happily. “Man-and-wife kind of home?”
“Man and wife as well as mother and father for Nathanial. This time for real. But I won’t have you settling for halves,” she warned him. “Because when it comes to loving you, I feel more than that. Much, much more.”
He grinned at her meaningfully. “I’m feeling much stronger now, sweetheart.”
The nurse chose that inopportune second to poke her head into the cubicle. “Time’s up.”
“Don’t look so disappointed,” Eden said to him, getting to her feet with a promise in her smile. “We have a whole lifetime for kissing ahead of us.”
Epilogue
You have no right to be anything but supremely happy.
Eden kept repeating this reproach to herself as she stood in the vestibule of Saint Michael’s. The historic church with its pure, classic style ranked as one of the most beautiful in Charleston. A choice setting for any occasion.
In a few moments, the doors in front of her would be opened by the ushers, the organ would thunder into the wedding march, and she would glide down the aisle on the arm of her father. Meanwhile, Eden’s attendants, who included her friend Tia, fussed around her, making last-minute adjustments to her wedding gown.
You have no right to be anything but supremely happy.
The matron of honor, her sister, Christy, stepped back to survey her. “Gorgeous,” she pronounced with satisfaction.
Eden knew it was a spectacular gown, a strapless confection of elaborately embroidered antique satin. The kind of special dress a bride dreamed about wearing in surroundings that boasted masses of flowers and flickering candles. And Eden had dreamed about such a wedding ever since she was a little girl. A grand affair, unlike the simple ceremonies of her sister and three brothers. Today that dream was a reality.
You have no right to be anything but supremely happy.
What on earth was the matter with her? she wondered, impatient with herself. She had everything to be thankful for. She was about to marry the man she loved and who loved her. She had her friends and family around her. Even the cascading bouquet she clutched with its mixed crimson and golden blooms was perfect.
You have no right—
The litany failed when her gaze went to her son standing beside her brother Devlin’s daughter. Livie was to be their flower girl, Nathanial the ring bearer. Handsome in a miniature tuxedo, he fidgeted with excitement.
Eden, watching him tenderly, knew what was wrong, had known all along what troubled her. In these past six weeks, while Shane had mended, recovering his full health, she and her son had forged a union of their own. Time and patience had taught him his true identity, and he now accepted both his name and his relationship to her. But he had yet to address her in any maternal form, and Eden was beginning to fear he never would.
She was being ridiculous, of course. She had no right to her longing, especially today of all days. No reason to be anything but totally grateful she had her son back. That was all that really mattered, except—
“Are we ready?” Casey demanded, impatient with the holdup. “Honey, your bridegroom is going to be the most envied man in Charleston when they catch sight of you in there. So, if we’re all in place now, let’s go.
Deep breaths, everyone.”
“Wait, wait!” Nathanial cried, breaking out of line and racing to Eden’s side. “There’s something I forgot to do.”
“What is it, sweetheart?” she asked as she leaned down to him, hoping it wasn’t a visit to the bathroom.
Looping his arms around her neck, he gave her a quick hug. “Have a good wedding, Mom,” he wished her cheerfully before turning and dashing back to his place in the procession. “Okay, we can go now.”
“Don’t you dare cry!” Christy warned her sister as Eden came slowly erect. “You’ll ruin forty-five minutes of creative makeup. Oh, damn! Somebody go down front and warn them there will be a slight delay while we perform damage control here on the bride.”
“No time for that, we’re on,” Casey said as the doors were folded back and the organ swelled into the wedding march.
Eden didn’t care that the tears were welling in her eyes as she and her father progressed slowly down the center aisle. They were the evidence of her complete happiness. Through them she saw the familiar, smiling faces of her mother, her three brothers, their wives and children, and friends like Estelle and Victor DuBois.
And then they were eclipsed by the tall figure, incredibly good-looking in his dress uniform, waiting for her at the altar. His was the only face Eden saw now. A face that registered his pure pride and admiration in her.
When she reached him, when her father released her with a quick kiss, and she joined the man who would always be “Shane” to her at the altar, he turned to her. For a long second they simply gazed at each other. And then he winked at her. It was the kind of outrageous wink only he could deliver. A loving wink that promised a lifetime of joy.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-3762-9
SUDDEN RECALL
Copyright © 2004 by Jean Barrett
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* The Hawke Detective Agency