She squeaked a surprise and he immediately lowered the gun. “Olivia Conner?” he asked.
She nodded and at that moment the door to the bedroom opened and Micah appeared. With a sharp gasp she ran toward him, slamming into his big, strong body as his arms wrapped tightly around her.
“I thought you were dead,” she said and began to weep.
He pulled her into the bedroom and closed the door behind them with her still in the embrace of his arms.
“As far as you and the boys are concerned, I am dead. I just couldn’t let you go without saying a final goodbye.” His voice was a husky whisper in her hair.
She raised her head to look at him. “I don’t want to say goodbye. I love you, Micah. I love you with all my heart and soul.” The words spilled from her, unable to stay inside her another minute. “I know you love me, too. I see it when you look at me, I feel it with every part of me. Let it be, Micah, don’t fight against it.”
She saw his love now, shining from his eyes. “Go with us. Relocate with us and build a life,” she continued. “Be the husband, the father that you were meant to be. You deserve to be loved, Micah, and you deserve happiness. We can give that to you. Let yourself accept it.”
He disentangled from her and took a step backward, his eyes pools of tortured emotions. “There’s more at play here than just you and me.” He walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down, then patted the space next to him.
Olivia sank down, her head filled with the clean male scent of him, her heart aching with the wealth of love for him that felt too big for her chest.
“There’s much to be done in Cold Plains,” he said, as if that somehow explained everything. “We know we didn’t get everyone who has dirty hands.”
“What are you saying? That you’re going to stay here and continue to work with the FBI?”
He hesitated a moment and then slowly nodded. “That’s the plan.”
“But you know Samuel will come back and if he knows you’re here, he’ll try to have you killed again,” she protested.
Micah was silent for a long moment, his gaze holding hers intently. “What I’m about to tell you is top secret information. You can’t share it with anyone. Soon enough June and Jesse will know along with a few key players in town, but that’s it.”
“Okay,” she said slowly, her heart once again beating an unsteady rhythm.
“The official story is that Samuel escaped the FBI net and with Bo and Wilma proclaiming his innocence in the adoption scheme, there’s nothing to arrest him for. As for me, I died on the mountain, shot by persons unknown.”
“And the unofficial story?” she asked softly.
“Samuel is in custody,” he replied. She listened as he told her of the battle that had taken place on the cliff, a chill shivering through her as she realized how close Micah had come to death. While he’d been trying to keep Samuel alive, he could have been pulled over the cliff’s edge and both brothers would have been killed.
“He confessed to me to being responsible for the death of all those women.” He explained to her about the final moments of Samuel’s freedom, how he’d proclaimed his innocence and Hawk’s tape recorder that had caught the confession on tape.
“By the time Samuel was led away by a couple agents, I had passed out from a migraine.” He frowned, as if hating the weakness that had been left behind when his brother had tried to have him killed.
“When I finally came to, Hawk was seated next to me. He told me that Samuel had been taken to a secret location and I was to come with him. And here I am.”
“So, Samuel is gone. Why would you have to stick around here? You accomplished what you wanted,” she said, trying to understand why he was here in this hotel, why the official word was that he was dead. And then she knew.
“I love you, Olivia. I want the best for you and your sons. I have another mission to accomplish and I battle migraines. I’m no good for you. I love you enough to let you go, even though it’s killing me right now.” His voice trembled with emotion and it was in the depth of emotion that she saw her future.
“I get cramps,” she said. “Every once in a while I get stomach cramps and all I want to do is stay in bed with a heating pad. I have a mission to accomplish, too. I want my boys to know the love and guidance of a good man. I want a man who makes me feel strong and vibrant and passionate and that man is you. If you are planning on staying in Cold Plains, then so am I. I have a nice house waiting for my return. The Community Center will still need a secretary and you can’t beat the scenery in town.”
“Olivia…”
She placed a finger against his lips. “I know exactly what I’m getting into, Micah, and I’m all in. Don’t throw us away. We need you, and I have a feeling you need us, too.”
His eyes shimmered with a light that nearly stole her breath away. “I do need you, Olivia. I feel as if I’ve waited my entire life for you and those little boys to come along. I don’t know much about being a husband and nothing about being a parent, but I do know that I love you and I’ll do everything in my power to keep you and the boys safe and happy.”
Tears of joy shimmered in her eyes. “That’s all I need, Micah. We’ll figure it out as we go. I think our two missions might work together very well.”
He stood and pulled her off the bed and into his embrace. “I learned early in my life not to give my heart to anyone, but somehow you managed to get in under my defenses. You have my heart, Olivia.”
She leaned into him and smiled. “And I’ll take very good care of it.”
He took her mouth with his in a searing kiss that spoke not only of tenderness and passion, of commitment and caring, but also of a future together that would contain all the things that made up dreams.
Olivia knew the next weeks and months might be difficult, but at the end of each day she’d find her
comfort in Micah’s arms and her sons would find the father they needed.
It didn’t matter if Cold Plains was a “perfect” town or not. She’d found the perfect man to be her life partner and together they would build a life on the foundation of love.
EPILOGUE
It had been a week since the raid on the small town of Cold Plains, and in that week much had happened to forever change Darcy Craven’s life.
Deputy Ford McCall had finally identified Jane Doe as not only being Catherine George, but also the woman who had given birth to Darcy.
Darcy now walked with Rafe through the cemetery where her mother had been buried the day before. Rafe pushed the stroller with Devin gurgling the nonsensical, but pleasant sounds of babyhood.
Darcy carried in her arms a bouquet of daisies. Daisies were Darcy’s favorite flowers and somehow she believed her mother had loved them, too.
Although she was heartbroken that she’d never have the reunion she’d dreamed about with her mother, she was comforted by the fact that her mother had taken her to Louise to protect her, to save her from the evil man who was her father.
It had taken tremendous love and sacrifice for Catherine to leave Darcy behind and in many ways Darcy would be forever grateful to the mother she’d never had the opportunity to get to know.
As they drew closer to the grave site, Rafe stopped at a stone bench nearby. “Go ahead,” he said to her. “Take a little time by yourself.”
She nodded, grateful that he understood her need to just stand, to just be in the spiritual presence of her mother. She walked a few more steps and stopped in front of the headstone that read Catherine George with the years of her birth and death. Below that were the words Beloved Mother.
“Beloved mother,” Darcy whispered softly as she leaned down and gently placed the flowers on the grave. “Thank you for being strong enough, for being brave enough, to save me.” She straightened up, a piercing sadness in her heart, but
also a sense of pride. There was no doubt in her mind that, along with her blue eyes, she’d gotten her inner strength from her mother.
She stood there for several minutes, allowing the pain of loss to peak and then slowly recede away. It was time to put the past behind her. She and Rafe had made the decision to stay on in Cold Plains. Rafe wanted to continue his medical practice and she would continue as his receptionist and watch Devin, who had gained her heart the moment he was placed in her arms. Rafe was a good man and Cold Plains was a town that desperately needed good men.
She turned now and gazed at the two men who held not only her heart, but also her future. Rafe smiled and suddenly she wanted away from this place. Yes, it was time to put the past behind her and focus on the future, her wonderful future with Rafe and Devin.
* * *
“All done,” the man said as he took the cape off Micah’s shoulders and brushed him down with a soft-bristled brush. When he was finished, Micah stood and straightened the collar of the white dress shirt he wore. The shirt cost more than any item of clothing Micah had ever owned, as did the suit coat he shrugged on. It was like donning another man’s skin.
As the barber left him alone in the room, Micah closed his eyes and thought of Olivia and her boys. They had settled back in the house where she’d lived before her world had exploded apart and Micah couldn’t wait for the time they could be together again and that was going to be soon…very soon.
He’d been told that while things were relatively calm in Cold Plains, everyone appeared to be uneasy, waiting to see what happened next. They were a flock without a shepherd, a group of bewildered people seeking leadership.
Micah knew what happened next.
He slowly turned around and gazed at his reflection in the dresser mirror. The barber had done a perfect job styling his new short haircut. The suit fit him as if tailored specifically for him.
The resemblance was now uncanny. The flock needed a shepherd and he was about to return.
Micah smiled at his reflection, aware that his new mission was about to begin. “Hello, Samuel,” he said softly.
* * * * *
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ISBN: 9781459230668
Mercenary’s Perfect Mission
Copyright © 2012 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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ISBN-13: 9781488037481
Perfect, Wyoming Complete Collection
Copyright © 2018 by Harlequin Books S.A
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
Special Agent’s Perfect Cover
Copyright © 2012 by Harlequin Books S.A
Rancher’s Perfect Baby Rescue
Copyright © 2012 by Harlequin Books S.A
A Daughter’s Perfect Secret
Copyright © 2012 by Harlequin Books S.A
Lawman’s Perfect Surrender
Copyright © 2012 by Harlequin Books S.A
The Perfect Outsider
Copyright © 2012 by Harlequin Books S.A
Mercenary’s Perfect Mission
Copyright © 2012 by Harlequin Books S.A
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor, Toronto, ON M5H 4E3 Canada.
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Perfect Wyoming Complete Collection: Special Agent's Perfect Cover ; Rancher's Perfect Baby Rescue ; A Daughter's Perfect Secret ; Lawman's Perfect Surrender ; The Perfect Outsider ; Mercenary's Perfect Mission Page 109
