“The truck’s coming back.”
Well, Nicole had hoped to be able to free her other arm before Robertson came back but at least she had her right hand free and could get to her gun.
She reached into her bag and pulled out the gun then crossed her arms with the gun hidden in her left armpit. She’d barely hidden it when the door flew open and there stood Robertson.
If anything, he looked a little more like he was out of control than he had when he left before.
He walked across the room toward them and stopped five feet away. His gun had been pointing at an area between the two women but when he stopped, he shifted it to point directly at Darla’s chest.
“Now, I’m ready to get rid of you once and for all Chadwick. You’ve been nothing but a pain to me all along. You never did anything the way I told you to.”
This was Nicole’s only chance. She had to do something quickly, or it looked like he was going to shoot Darla.
Nicole pulled her hand out and pointing the gun at Robertson, squeezed off three rounds the way she’d been trained to do.
She wasn’t sure where they hit since he started falling backward after the first shot, but she was certain all three rounds hit him.
As he was falling, Robertson squeezed the trigger of his gun. Nicole quickly looked at Darla who didn’t look like she’d been hit.
She laid the gun in her lap. “Keep a close watch on him just in case while I free my other arm.”
This time, with her right hand free, it didn’t take long to free her left arm.
She had just picked her gun back up when Darla bounced again. Nicole looked at her.
“There’s another car coming in. No, it sounds like several. Who do you think it is?”
Nicole wasn’t sure, but she was praying that Floyd had found them with her GPS tracker.
They sat there waiting with Nicole keeping her gun aimed at a spot three feet in front of the door.
Darla suddenly yelled out. “We’re in here and Robertson is down. Nicole shot him.”
The first one through the door was Floyd but Roger and Nick were both right behind him. They rushed over to her and hugged her from both sides.
Suddenly Nicole felt better than she ever had. She had both the men she loved hugging her at the same time.
She could barely see over them, but she did see Floyd when he spoke. “Well, little brother, it looks like Nicole just won the mayor election for you.”
Roger turned to where he could see Floyd, but Nicole could still see his face. “He dead?”
“As a doornail.”
* * *
Roger was feeling so good he thought he might scare Nicole if she looked at him. He had to be smiling wider than he ever had.
They were in her van on their way to his family farm after the Sunday service. And it hadn’t been just any ordinary service either. Both Nicole and he had been baptized.
He still had the picture vivid in his mind of Nicole sitting on a stool in the baptistry and then Gil had dunked her under the water and back up quickly. He would never forget the look on her face when she came up out of the water and opened her eyes.
Then it had been his turn, and she’d watched from her chair parked at the edge of the baptistry. He didn’t think she got quite the same view when he came up out of the water as he had but she was smiling and clapping her hands just the same.
When his mind came back to the present, he couldn’t keep his eyes off Nicole. Even with her shoulder-length blond hair still damp, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known.
Once inside his family’s farmhouse, the whole family was gathered there including Jo and Gil with their kids. So, they had no opportunity to talk until after dinner.
Finally, they were able to get alone. The only place they could find empty was the kitchen. The dining room was full of women and girls playing Scrabble® while the living room was full of men and boys watching football.
He smiled when he heard Nicole’s brother Nick yell out about a great play.
Roger sneaked into the kitchen to make a little preparation first. Then he went to get Nicole from the dining room.
Roger pushed her into the kitchen and pulled out a chair at the table so Nicole could pull her wheelchair up to it. But when he took the chair next to her, he turned both her wheelchair and his chair, so they were facing each other.
He looked deep into her eyes and almost got lost with the love he saw there. He was still working up the nerve when he just blurted it out.
“Nicole, even though we haven’t really known each other very long, I’ve come to love you so much I just want to shout it out for everyone to hear.”
She sat there with her hands clasped in her lap. She didn’t speak but he could tell that her eyes were switching back and forth from his eyes to his mouth as he spoke.
“Nicole, I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He pointed at the table top and when she looked, she saw a Scrabble® board there with the words, “Will you marry me?”
Her eyes had been on his lips as he spoke then she looked at the table. She was quiet so long he was afraid she might say no or worse yet, not even answer him.
Then she broke out in a grin he’d been seeing more of lately. “Yes, Roger. I will marry you.”
He started to shout out his joy, but she held up a hand like a stop sign.
“But even though I love you as much as you love me, there are still two more who have to give their approval of us getting married.”
He was puzzled at first. Who could she be talking about?
Then she placed her hand on his cheek. “Snowball and Oscar have never been together. If we’re going to get married, don’t you think they should get along too?”
He laughed loudly, and he realized his mistake when people came pouring out of the dining room and the living room and they were suddenly surrounded by his family and her brother. They were all shouting, laughing and pointing at the Scrabble® board. His sister and mother both had tears in their eyes. Oh boy!
Suddenly, Roger was aware of a hand on his shoulder and then he heard Nick talking softly near his ear.
“I think you’ll be a great husband to my twin sister Roger.” He paused and squeezed Roger’s shoulder. “But if you don’t, you’d better know I’m going to be coming after you.”
Then he laughed and slapped Roger on the back. “Don’t worry. That’s what brothers are supposed to say, isn’t it?”
Roger laughed but his eyes went back to Nicole who now had tears streaking down her cheeks.
When he became concerned, she shook her head. “I’m just so happy it’s overflowing.”
* * *
Shortly after the family mobbed them, everyone started leaving for their own homes. Nicole looked at Roger and waited for him to finish talking to Nick who was going out the door.
“Roger?”
When he turned to look at her, she continued. “I’ve been thinking about how best to get our pets together but first, you need to answer one question for me.”
He nodded for her to go on.
“You’re renting your house, right?”
“Yes, I am. I have a six-month lease which will end the end of February.”
“Do you think you could be comfortable living in my house? There are a lot of special modifications there which make it easier for me to do everything I need but they might get in your way.”
He grinned back at her with a hand in the air. “Nicole. Stop right there. I love your house and I’m always very comfortable in it. And I can work around any of those special modifications. Okay?”
“Okay. In that case, I think the best way to bring them together would be if we go get Oscar and take him to my house. After all, part of the process will be for Snowball to share her house with him.”
Roger laughed. “As usual, you’re right. Let’s go see what happens.”
Forty-five minutes later, they were back in Nicole’s van with Oscar resting comfortably on the
bench seat at the rear of the van.
Once Nicole was out of the van, Roger hooked Oscar’s leash to him and they went inside her kitchen where she knew Snowball would be waiting for her, as usual.
“Let me go first Roger. Snowball will jump into my lap and it might work better if she’s there when she sees Oscar for the first time.”
As soon as Snowball was comfortable in Nicole’s lap she called out to Roger. “Okay, bring in Oscar.”
Nicole had been so afraid that Snowball would attack Oscar or at the least run away and hide in another room. But, no, Snowball gave Oscar one curious look and dropped her head back down and closed her eyes.
Oscar, on the other hand, sniffed Snowball while Roger held him back with his leash.
“Oscar. This is your new friend. You and I are going to be living here so you need to be nice to her.”
Oscar turned and gave him a look as if he’d understood every word Roger had just said.
Then he trotted out of the kitchen.
Roger laughed and let go of the leash. “I think he’s checking the place out. But I’d better keep him in sight just in case.
Several hours later, after Roger said he needed to leave, he leaned over Nicole where she sat in her recliner. Snowball was curled up on one end of the sofa and Oscar was curled up on the floor in front of the cat.
Nicole was surprised when Roger picked her up and sat on the unoccupied end of the sofa with her in his lap.
After they kissed for a long time, he pulled back and looked her in the eye. “When do you want to get married?”
She thought about that for a moment then the perfect answer came to her.
“You said your lease runs out in February. I looked at the calendar this morning and Valentine’s Day is on a Saturday. Why don’t we get married then?”
“That’s fine with me.”
He pointed at the cat and dog. “I don’t think we’re going to have any problems with them.”
She shook her head. “No. That will just give you more time to get used to my stubborn independence.”
He laughed, and she knew it was loud since he woke up both animals.
“I look forward to every minute of your stubborn independence. Just remember that your solution won’t always be my solution.”
# # #
About the Author
T. E. Killian has been an Army Medic, real estate agent, restaurant owner, high school English teacher, pastor, hospital chaplain, crisis counselor, police chaplain, and pastoral counselor.
All of these occupations have helped him to understand how men and women build and keep relationships. He also knows how they repair or destroy those relationships. He has also observed how people interact in all kinds of situations.
They also give him firsthand knowledge of how people live and act within each of those types of situations.
Therefore, his characters take on the characteristics and personalities of people who work in all of the occupations he knows so well.
Having been in many crisis situations over the past thirty plus years, he can write about them realistically.
He and his wife, Ann, live in Black Canyon City, Arizona, where he writes fulltime.
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Please take the time to give this book a review on Amazon.com, Goodreads or any other site. Other readers can only know about it if you tell them. Thank you very much and may God bless you.
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He would love to hear from his readers. Each of his novels has a Christian message in it. If you have any questions or comments on those messages, he would love to discuss these with you via email.
If you would like to contact him, please do so here.
If you would like to be added to his mailing list which is only used to announce events or the publication of each new book, please do so here.
Also, please check out his webpage at: www.tekillian.com
Novels by T. E. Killian
- Look for all the books in the Sycamore P.D. Series:
Sycamore P.D. Series 3 in 1 Set
1. Lost Memories
2. Accepted Memories
3. Resolved Memories
- Look for all the books in the Crowley County Series:
Crowley County Series 4 in 1 Set
1. No Easy Solution
2. A Better Solution
3. The Only Solution
4. Another Solution
5. Not My Solution
- Look for all the books in the Clear Creek Series:
Clear Creek Series 3 in 1 Set
1. Ryan's Ruin
2. Chase's Return
3. Hunter's Revenge
- Look for all the books in the Walking Together Series:
Walking Together Series 3 in 1 Set
1. Walking Straight
2. Walking Away
3. Walking the Line
- Look for all the books in the Rookies Series
Rookies Series 3 in 1 Set
1. Looking Up
2. Looking Good
3. Looking Out
- Look for all the books in the Bear Creek Series
Bear Creek Series 3 in 1 Set
1. Greed’s Reward
2. Pride’s Deception
3. Fool’s Profit
- Look for all the books in the Logan’s Way Detective Series
Logan’s Way Detective Series, Novels 1-3
1. Out of My Way
2. On the Way
3. All the Way
- Look for all the books in the Stillwater Mystery Series
Stillwater Mystery Series, Novels 1-3
1. Suspicious Circumstances
2. Dangerous Consequences
3. Subtle Persuasion
Not My Solution Page 24