“I like Seattle,” Mitch interrupted. “I could pick up a flying job there. As a matter of fact, I was offered one just yesterday when I refueled at the airport there. I could get us an apartment right near the hospital where Hayden could come visit, and your parents, too, and we could all stay there when you weren’t confined to a hospital room. C’mon, Kate,” he urged. “Say yes. Hayden, tell your mother to say yes.”
“Say yes, Mumma,” Hayden said.
Kate’s vision blurred. “You’re ganging up on me.”
“Damn straight.”
“You may regret this a thousand times over,” she said, “but yes, Mitchell McCray. I’ll marry you.”
AFTER THE CELEBRATORY SUPPER, and after the phone calls to the justice of the peace to arrange a small wedding at the ranch and to the Seattle hospital to confirm her bone marrow transplant countdown, Kate was exhausted. She put Hayden to bed, pulled the covers up over him, kissed his cheek, gave the ever-watchful Thor a grateful pat and went back downstairs to where Mitch waited for her.
Quietly.
Patiently.
The way she sensed he’d always be waiting for her, no matter what.
“I’m staying out in the bunkhouse,” he said when she rejoined him in the quiet of the living room, Hayden already asleep and her parents gone to bed, as well.
“What a coincidence. So am I,” she said.
Kate didn’t know if there would be a tomorrow for her, or a day after, let alone a year. She didn’t know if she’d be around to see Hayden graduate high school and college, find a sweetheart, get married, or catch his first real big fish. But she did know that no matter what, from this moment on, she wouldn’t be alone to face her greatest fears. Mitch had chased her nightmares up into the hills and banished them forever and tonight they’d start building a sturdy corral together and fill it with their dreams.
Good dreams.
Great dreams.
That night, Kate’s future looked as bright as the stars spangling the black velvet sky. As Mitch’s warm, strong hand clasped around hers, as they walked side by side down the path, she wondered what had taken her so long to realize that needing someone wasn’t a sign of weakness, and that loving someone was the greatest strength of all.
EPILOGUE
Pike’s Creek Chronicle
Lofty Arrival
Mitchell and Katherine McCray are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter, Gail Anne McCray, on December 19 at 11:00 p.m. in the middle of the first real snowstorm of the season. Gail was due to arrive on January 20 but was born, a healthy six pounds, nine ounces, while en route to the Fairbanks hospital in a plane piloted by her father. Camilla Clarke and Wally Gleason helped her into the world and are equally proud to be named as godparents. Mitchell, Katherine and Wally are partners in one of Alaska’s most successful new charters, Arctic Air. Gail Anne joins her eight-year-old brother, Hayden, as the newest member of the McCray family and a treasured addition to Pike’s Creek. We wish them all the best and would just like to add, good job, Kate. We’re proud of you, and we love you.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-1704-1
FROM OUT OF THE BLUE
Copyright © 2007 by Penny R. Gray.
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From Out of the Blue Page 26
