Save Me, page 14
“They’re gorgeous, and that’s the biggest bouquet I’ve ever seen! How about the dining table? We’ll see it every time we walk past, and it’s big enough to accommodate it.”
“Good call,” he said, and headed for the dining room with Lainie right behind him. He put down the vase then pulled the card and handed it to her, then saw her eyes widen in surprise.
“Oh, honey...oh my... I think these are for you as much as for me. Look,” she said, and handed him the card.
For Gator’s girl,
Rat, T-Bone, Roadrunner, Memphis, Cowboy, Tulsa, Chili Dog, Cherokee and Dallas, and the 82nd Airborne, sending our love.
Gator Gray...you did good.
Hunt was stunned. “Never thought I’d hear from them again.”
Lainie was elated. This was part of who he’d been, and evidence of how much they’d thought of him.
“We’ve been all over national news for some time. That’s probably how they found out. And that last update I saw, news anchors were really playing up your Army background and the childhood sweetheart connection.” She hugged him. “They love you, Hunt. Maybe not as much as I do, but they love you, and you made them proud.”
“All I wanted was to find you alive. The flowers are for a special lady, and that’s you.” He read the card again, picturing their faces as he saw the names, but then he kept going back to “Gator’s girl,” and finally frowned.
“Lainie, I don’t want you to just be Gator’s girl. That should read, ‘Gator’s wife,’ but she doesn’t exist, and that’s all wrong. Can we talk about getting married?”
Lainie slid her arms around his neck. “You already proposed to me once, remember?”
He frowned. “Yes, and you said we’d walk that road after we got to Tulane.”
“Because I still wasn’t eighteen, and you know my parents would never have given their consent. I thought we had time.” Her voice broke. “I was wrong.”
“So, you’re a grown-ass woman and I’m asking you again. Will you marry me, darlin’?”
“In a heartbeat.”
He grinned. “I love how you play hard to get.”
She shrugged. “There’s no waiting period in Colorado. You can get a marriage license and get married in the same day, if you want to.”
He blinked. “Another plus for this state beside the fact that you’re living in it. What kind of ID do we need?”
“A simple driver’s license will suffice,” she said.
“Do you want the ceremony with all the trimmings?” he asked.
“I just want to be your wife. I want the right to call you husband. But I do want to wait until the bruises are gone before we do it, because when we get someone to take our picture, I don’t want to look like I’d been in a dogfight, and have people a hundred years from now wondering why.”
Hunt kissed the little scar on her forehead, then ran his thumb along the curve of her chin. “It’s a deal. But right now, would you like to take a ride?”
“I’m good with taking a ride. I haven’t been out of this house since you brought me home from the hospital, except to have the staples taken out of my head.”
“Then let’s do it. And wear your fuzzy leopard slippers. They’re my favorite,” he said.
She laughed. “I’m going to need a few minutes.”
“Take all the time you need. We’ve got the rest of our lives to fix the mess our parents made.” But then he thought about her walking back through the house just to get shoes and a jacket, and swung her up into his arms and carried her down the hall and into the bedroom. “Consider it taking a shortcut,” he said, brushing a kiss on her lips and leaving the room.
Chapter Eight
When they pulled into the drive-through at Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Burgers, Lainie beamed.
“Oh, Hunt! Freddy’s! Back home, it was our place to go.”
“I know. I saw it the other day when I was picking up groceries. Thought of all the times we spent eating their burgers and fries, and the hot fudge sundaes made with the frozen custard.”
“Do you remember what I liked?” she asked.
He frowned. “Darlin’. I remember everything about you.”
“Then you order for me,” she said.
He pulled up to the speaker. “Two original combos, no onions, extra ketchup for the fries and two large, sweet teas,” he said, and then drove around to the pickup window for their order.
He drove them to a nearby parking lot, distributed the food, and then they sat watching traffic as they ate.
“This is so good,” Lainie said. “All these years I’ve lived here, and I’ve never come to Freddy’s.”
“We’re here now, and we’ll be back,” Hunt said, and dunked his fry into a puddle of ketchup.
Before long, they began playing the traffic game they used to play when they were teens.
“See that old red truck with the dented fender rattling by? He’s headed to Dallas, Texas, to see his grannie on her birthday,” Lainie said.
Hunt remembered the game and jumped in. “Yeah? Well, take a look at that black Porsche darting through traffic. It belongs to the banker’s wife, but she’s on her way to meet a guy on the side, and she’s gonna get caught, because the banker found out.”
Lainie frowned. “Poor wifey. She should have settled for the Porsche and forgot about extramarital sex.”
Hunt snorted. “Darlin’...if somebody’s not getting enough of it, they’ll always go huntin’ for it.”
Lainie grinned. “I suppose you have a point, unless you’re one of those ladies who’s had the best and isn’t willing to settle for second-rate. Like me.”
He licked a drip of ketchup off his lip and stared. “You didn’t—”
“Not even tempted. I kind of turned it off, I think. Did you date?”
“Not even once,” he said. “I’m a one-woman kind of guy.”
“So...you turned it off, too?” she asked.
“I didn’t know how to turn off wanting you. I just made love to you every night in my dreams, and suffered through the reality that you were gone,” he muttered.
The faint brush of despair in his voice made her sad all over again for what they’d lost. Timing couldn’t be worse. She still looked like she had one foot in the grave, but they were together again, sharing food and space, and a future of possibilities.
She wiped her hands and turned to face him.
“Hunter?”
His eyes narrowed. She never called him by his full name unless it was serious. “Yes, darlin’?”
“I know I promised you a sexy nightgown and a pretty body, but if we turn off the lights and you’ll settle for as is, you know how to turn me back on.”
He took the statement like a fist to the gut, then inhaled to make sure he was still breathing. “Are you finished with that burger?”
Her whole body quickened. “I can be.”
He nodded. “I’ll gather up the trash.”
Today was a day for moving forward, and this moment had been a long time coming.
The drive home happened faster than when they’d left. No sightseeing, or calling attention to points of interest. Just a heart-racing need to be together.
When they pulled into the garage, Hunt ran to her side of the car and picked her up to carry her inside.
“Honey, I can walk,” Lainie said.
“If you can say that again in a couple of hours, then you’re on your own. But this is me, clearin’ the way to paradise.”
She said no more and settled for the bird’s-eye view she had of his face. Upside down or backward. Front view or silhouette...he was beautiful in her eyes.
He carried her into the house, all the way down the hall to their bedroom before he put her down.
“I’m going to wash up first, or I’m going to taste like ketchup,” she said.
“Fine, but don’t wash it all off. I like ketchup, too.”
Lainie laughed as she walked into the en suite and shut the door. She knew what he was doing...wanting her to forget about how she looked and remember the fireworks when they were together.
When she came out, the shades were down and the covers pulled back on the bed. He was waiting in the shadows, and when she walked into his arms, the removal of their clothing became a dance.
A head bowed to remove a shirt.
A foot lifted to step out of their pants.
The stroke of his hand down the middle of her back.
The rhythm of his heartbeat against her palm.
The fall of her hair across his arm.
The sensual stroke of his tongue in the valley between her breasts.
The catch in her breath when he stretched out beside her.
The glitter in his eyes as he gazed down upon her.
The scars they bore were both outward and inward, but the bond between them was timeless, unbreakable.
He was the same, and yet different.
It wasn’t their first kiss...but it was the last remnant of regret for what had been.
“My darlin’ Lainie, you never quit me...even after I quit myself. Words do not exist to explain the depths of what you mean to me.”
He had that piercing-eye raptor look again, and she was his willing prey. “I love you, Hunt, and that is all.”
His heart was pounding as he moved over her, and then he was inside her. Hard as a rock, and throbbing from the blood rush, he began to move.
She closed her eyes, wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him deeper. I am whole again.
It began like it always had between them—with a slow, steady stroke in perfect rhythm. Their bodies fit, like two halves of a perfect whole, turning up the volume as the need grew stronger.
Minute by minute, they chased the heat, always just a little ahead of them, until feel-good turned into need. Need turned into frenzy, and right in the middle of heartbeat, the slam of a climax, wiping out all sense of thought. In the aftermath, they became each other’s anchor until the final quake had stilled.
Still inside her, Hunt rolled onto his back, taking her with him, and within seconds felt the first drops of her tears on his chest.
His voice was but a rumble in Lainie’s ear.
“You’re crying. Please tell me I didn’t hurt you.”
“No pain. Tears of joy. Making love to you didn’t hurt. It healed.”
“Okay then,” he said, and slid his hands down the ridge of her spine and cupped her backside.
Lainie felt boneless. She couldn’t have moved then if she’d tried, and there they laid, heart to heart, as the minutes passed. She was almost at the point of sleep when she heard him groan, and then move within her.
He was hard again, and still inside her.
She raised up just enough to see his ice-blue eyes catch fire.
“What are you waiting for, Gator?”
“Permission to proceed, ma’am.”
“Permission granted.”
Three days later
LAINIE DIDN’T HAVE a way to thank each and every person responsible for the flowers from Hunt’s squadron, so she turned loose of her ego and had Hunt take a picture of her standing by the bouquet and holding a sign that read,
TO THE GUYS IN GATOR GRAY’S SQUADRON, AND THE 82ND AIRBORNE BATTALION IN FORT LIBERTY
THANK YOU FOR THE FLOWERS.
WITH LOVE—GATOR GRAY’S GIRL.
And then she posted it on her Instagram account.
There was no denying what she’d suffered. But the sweet smile on her battered face said it all. She’d survived.
The post went viral, but all she cared about was making sure Hunt’s friends received her thanks.
That evening, she was in the kitchen chopping up vegetables for a casserole when she heard Hunt’s Jeep in the driveway. He’d had two separate interviews today with med-flight services, and she was curious to find out what he thought, and what they’d said.
She heard the front door open, wiped her hands and went to meet him.
“I missed you,” she said as she gave him a hug.
“I missed you more,” he said, and kissed her soundly.
“Get comfy then come talk to me,” she said. “I’m chopping veggies for a casserole.”
A few minutes later, he was back in his sock feet, minus the boots and flight jacket, but still wearing the jeans and shirt he’d left home in. He walked up behind her, slid his arms around her waist and kissed the back of her ear.
“I have dreamed of this life with you forever. Still have a need to pinch myself that it’s real,” he said.
She leaned against him, reveling in the embrace. “Fairy tales were always my favorites when I was little because everyone lived happy-ever-after. And I’m also hardheaded. I refused to give up on this dream. I didn’t know how it would happen, but I wanted you back in my life.”
“And you got me,” Hunt said, then reached over her shoulder and grabbed a carrot chunk and popped it in his mouth.
“Give me a couple of minutes to finish this so I can get it in the oven,” she said.
“Need help?”
“I might like to look at you now and then while I work, so feel free to lurk about. Grab yourself something to drink, love. I’ve been standing long enough. I need to sit down soon.”
He nodded, took a longneck beer from the fridge, popped off the cap, took a quick sip, and then carried it to the window overlooking her backyard.
“Looks like rain coming in. Earlier, I thought I could smell it in the air,” he said.
“I like the rain when I’m snuggled in at home. Not crazy about driving to work and back in it,” she said, and dumped the veggies she’d just cut into the brown sauce on the stove, stirred it all together, then poured it over the seared beef tips in the casserole dish, covered it with foil and put it in the oven. She set the timer for an hour, then started to clean up when Hunt turned around and noticed what she was doing.
“I can do that, darlin’,” he said, and set her down with his beer.
She didn’t argue. And she had a confession to make.
“I posted the thank-you card photo on Instagram this morning. I don’t know if any of the guys have seen it yet, but one hundred forty-three thousand other people have.”
He turned, staring at her in disbelief. “What? Are you serious?”
She nodded.
He grinned. “Proper southern lady that you are, that is one hell of a thank-you card.”
“The spirit of my grandmother Sarah would have haunted me for life had I not sent a thank-you of some kind. One of her well-repeated adages was ‘Proper ladies must have proper manners.’”
He gave her a look. “Well, I don’t need a damn thing about you to change. In my eyes, you’ve always been perfect, and the improper parts are what I love most.”
He winked, then finished loading the dishwasher and wiped down the counters.
“Let’s go sit where it’s comfortable,” Lainie said. “I want to put my feet up.”
“Uber coming up,” Hunt said. “Bring my beer.” He scooped her up in his arms.
“You don’t have to keep doing this,” she said.
“What if I like it?” he said, and then carried her out of the room, eased her down on the sofa so she could stretch out her legs, then sat at the other end and put her feet in his lap. “There now, darlin’. Is that better?”
“Very much so,” she said, and handed him his beer. “Now, tell me about your day.”
He began lightly rubbing the tops of her feet as he talked. “Both interviews were good. Both companies offer about the same package. I also checked into EMS pilots for hospitals. It’s three straight days of twelve-hour shifts, and then six days off. I have the hours, skill and experience to qualify.”
“You choose. This is home base. This is where you go when you’re not in the air. As long as I’m still Gator’s girl, all will be right in my world.”
“Gator’s wife,” he corrected.
She smiled. “Yes...that.”
He nodded. “I’m leaning toward the EMS thing. I’ll see what’s available, and go from there.”
“I have something to talk to you about, too,” Lainie said. “It’s about the baby’s ashes.”
His hands were still on her feet when he looked up. “What about them?”
“In the beginning, I kept them because of you. I always thought you’d come looking for me one day, and I wanted to give you that moment.”
His fingers swept across the tops of her feet and curled around them.
“You did, and I am so grateful.”
“But now, every time you see the little bear sitting in the rocker, does it make you feel sad? Is it a hard reminder of the loss, or does it give you comfort to keep it?”
He glanced at the rocker, and then back at her. “What are you asking, darlin’?”
She took a breath. “If you want to lay him to rest.”
“What do you want?”
“I don’t want to ever hurt you, but in my heart, I feel like keeping the ashes in view, even though we’re the only ones who know they’re there, isn’t fair. Every day we work on putting the past behind us, but it will always be with us, because it was part of our journey. I don’t have to hold ashes to remember I carried your child. And our baby was already in the arms of angels before they pulled me out of the wreck.”
“You want to scatter them?” he asked.
Lainie’s eyes welled. “No. I want to leave the ashes right where they are, and bury the teddy bear. I would like remembering him that way.”
Hunt took a deep breath, swallowing past the lump in his throat. “There are days when I think you couldn’t get any dearer to me, and then you up and say something like this. You break my heart...in a thousand little pieces. And I would have given anything if you’d never been hurt like this. But you are right. He’ll always be with us. We should do this.”
