by Jodi Thomas
With steadfast determination, she gently reached across the bed and pulled the restraints into place across his chest and arms. Her fingers brushed over his powerful chest as she checked the straps to make sure they were secure. He was far thinner, but the strength was still within him.
Bart slowly opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling of the tent in confusion before recognizing his surroundings. As he turned toward her, Sarah found herself lost in his smoky gray eyes. Eyes that were filled with love and longing at the sight of her. Eyes that stared at her as if God had granted him one more look at her before condemning him to a lifetime of blindness.
But before she could speak, he turned away, hiding the right side of his face from her. “I brought Cody back to Katherine,” he said.
Sarah straightened slightly. “And you? Did you come back to me?” She fought to keep the tears from falling. She had to be strong now. Her future, her life, depended on it.
“No,” he answered after hesitating. “You can do far better than the likes of me. As soon as I’m able, I’ll be on my way.”
Anger boiled in Sarah’s gentle body as only Bart could make it do. She reached out and jerked his face toward her with both hands. “I could waste my time asking you if you love me, Bartholomew Rome, but I know you do, so there is no use lying to me.”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“That is all that matters,” she argued.
He tried to pull his head away, but her tiny hands held him forcefully. His powerful chest strained against the straps that bound him to the bed. “What the hell!”
“You’re not running out on me again.” She smiled like an angel who’d just caught the devil’s tail. “It looks as if you came back to me one too many times.”
Bart struggled against the restraints for several more minutes before he finally fell back in defeat against the pillows. He looked straight at her without hiding his scars. “You have to let me go, Sarah. I’m too old for you, I’m crippled, and I’m scarred all over, not just my face. I can’t make you look at me every day for the rest of your life.”
Sarah pressed her palm against his scar and stared directly at him. There was no pity in her voice or in her eyes, only anger blended with a touch of passion. “How could you have run out on me when I needed you the most? How could you have put me through so much pain just because of a few scars?”
“But look at me, Sarah.”
“I am looking at you, Bart. I see a man with about as ugly a scar as I’ve ever seen.” She leaned closer. “What makes you think you were all that great looking before the crash? If I’d been hoping to fall in love with a handsome man, I never would have gone riding with you that first night. It wasn’t your face that attracted me; it was your heart. As far as I can tell it’s still bigger than a barn, even if it is paired with a brainless head.”
Sarah brushed his dark hair away from his eyes. “I fell in love with the man behind those gray eyes, not the wrapping.”
She lowered her head slightly and kissed his lips. “I love you,” she whispered in her kiss. “Don’t ever leave me again.”
Bart strained now to break the restraints so he could pull her to him and never push her away. He felt as if his heart might explode with pleasure. Never in his wildest dreams did he think she’d want him.
“You could still love me like this?”
“I never stopped loving you.” She brushed his cheek lightly, not even feeling the scar. “Just as I know you never stopped loving me.”
A voice invaded their private heaven. “Pardon, mademoiselle. You sent for a chaplain?”
Sarah looked up at the hospital chaplain. Confusion filled his features. He’d already prepared himself to give last rites, but the man before him didn’t seem to be near death.
“Yes.” Sarah stood up and straightened her uniform. “I want you to marry me to this man.”
“What? Here? Now?” The chaplain hadn’t performed a wedding in so long he was uncertain he remembered the words.
Bart started shaking his head so violently he rocked the cot to which he was strapped. “Wait, Sarah. Give it some thought. You may want me now, but in a few months you’ll change your mind.”
“I think not, Mr. Rome.” Steel reflected in her blue eyes.
The priest looked perturbed. “I’m not in the habit of marrying people in hospitals. And the groom doesn’t look too willing. He is tied to his bed.”
“That’s damn—”
Sarah clamped her hand over Bart’s mouth. “Please, Father,” she pleaded with the priest in a voice that would have made angels comply. “He’s the father of my children.”
“What!” The priest’s face turned red with anger. If there was one thing he couldn’t tolerate, it was soldiers who left nice girls in a family way just because of the war. He pointed one long finger at Bart. “Is mat true, sir?”
Sarah released Bart’s mouth just long enough for him to say, “Yes, but—” before she smothered his protest.
That was all the priest needed to hear. He straightened like a gladiator preparing to battle sin and quickly married the couple before him. He didn’t even bother to ask the man in bed to say “I do,” for in his mind the man had already said it.
When the ceremony ended and the priest moved away, Sarah gave Bart a quick kiss on the cheek and disappeared to complete her duties. She could hear him swearing as she walked away, but she didn’t turn around.
It took Bart until suppertime to persuade someone to untie him. He tried ranting and raving, swearing at everyone who passed, threatening, and finally pleading, but no one listened. Finally, when Katherine appeared to relieve Sarah, she came to his aid, thinking someone must have bound him by mistake.
“How’s Cody?” Bart asked as he sat up in bed for the first time all day.
“He’s very weak. He lost a great deal of blood. Even now the shoulder is still seeping some.” Katherine sounded worried. “He told me how you saved his life. How you wouldn’t leave him in the field.”
“I knew you and Sarah would murder me if I came back alive without him.”
Katherine hugged Bart. “Thank you,” she whispered. “How can I ever thank you enough? Of course I understand that Sarah plans to murder you for lying to her.”
“She picked an interesting weapon.” Bart laughed. “She married me while I was tied down.”
Katherine’s laughter filled the tent.
Bart stretched his bandaged muscles. “Stop that, Red, and tell me where Sarah is. I have to talk to her.”
“I have no idea.” Katherine wondered why Sarah hadn’t talked to her new husband before she left the hospital. “She disappears almost every night about sunset, but I’m not sure where she goes. Wait and I’ll ask someone to send for her.”
Bart stood up, balancing himself carefully. He bit back the pain as he slid on his trousers and shirt. “Never mind. I’ll find her.”
“But you can’t leave your bed,” Katherine protested. “Now I see why they had you in restraints.” She glanced around for an orderly to help her get this tall man back into bed.
“Nonsense.” He stomped into his boots. “There aren’t enough nurses or doctors in this war to stop me.” He was past Katherine and out the side door of the tent before she could try to prove him wrong.
* * *
He knew where he’d find Sarah as he moved silently around to the back of the tent. The sun was down, but the light still glowed violet in the sky.
“Sarah?” he called softly, not wanting to startle her.
She turned to see her shadow man move toward her. “Are you still angry with me?” she asked.
Bart pulled her gently into his arms. “I love you more than I ever thought would be possible.”
“Even though I made you marry me?”
Bart chuckled. “We’ve been married since the day we met. You just made it legal.”
His fingers brushed the sides of her waist lightly loving the feel of her as always. “You’re my wife,”
he murmured into her hair. “You’ve always been my reason for living.”
“You don’t mind sharing me?”
“With whom?”
“Your son. He owns half my heart.”
Bart kissed her forehead. “I can’t wait to see him.” He searched for the right words. “Do you think I’ll frighten him?”
Sarah shook her head. “He’s a Rome, stubborn and brave, but he has a gentle side also. In only a little time, he’ll see you true.”
Bart’s lips moved along her cheek, and he kissed her deeply. There was no need to hide his love for her in the shadows. She had come freely into his arms, and he never planned to let her go.
He slid his hand up to her breast as he’d longed to do for almost a year. “You’ve changed slightly.” Even through the material he could tell she was fuller, far more woman than the girl she’d been when they’d made love.
Sarah ran her fingers over his chest. “So have you. I may have to learn to cook so I can put some fat back on you.”
His fingers circled over her, feeling the tips of her breasts even through the uniform. “You’re perfect just the way you are.” He lowered his mouth to kiss her lips as his grip tightened over her soft flesh.
Finally he gained enough control to pull away slightly. “Tell me, my wife, why’d you have to lie to the priest? You told him I was the father of your children.”
Sarah nuzzled his chest. “You might be, after tonight.”
Bart pulled at the buttons of her uniform. “I’ll take you up on that challenge.” He’d waited forever to touch her.
She pushed away from him and ran into the darkness. “Catch me, shadow man!” she yelled.
He didn’t have to run. He knew where she was going. Bart walked slowly toward his tent, smiling at what he knew would be waiting for him. The answer to his dreams. Sarah.
Thirty-three
KATHERINE SPENT ALL of her off-duty hours sitting beside Cody’s bunk. As time passed, his wounds healed, but the fever remained. In his mind he slipped in and out of reality, making (Catherine’s fears mount.
More than a week had passed since he’d been brought to her. Finally one morning, with grateful prayers of relief, she looked into feverless brown eyes.
“Cody.” She touched his forehead with a cloth. “How do you feel?”
“As if I’d been dragged by a plane around the world,” he whispered. “I dreamed Bart Rome dropped me in a bole.”
“He did. It saved your life.” Katherine fought the urge to giggle. “Would you like some water?”
Cody nodded. After taking a long drink, he stared at her. “When I was about to crash, I saw you as clearly as I do right now.”
Katherine covered his hand with her own. “You always said you feared you would.”
“No.” Cody shook his head slightly. “You don’t understand. I saw you and knew I wasn’t going to die.”
Katherine reached for the cloth, fearing the fever had returned.
Cody stopped her hand. “I saw you with gray in your hair and my children all around you.” He smiled as if he knew a great secret. “We’re going to have a huge family. Blond sons and redheaded daughters. And”—he tightened his grip on her hand—“I’m afraid the house will always be a mess.”
Katherine kissed his whiskery cheek. “I’ll stay home and clean it.”
Cody laughed at her lie. “Sure you will.”
Dr. Wells interrupted them. “Well, young man, it’s about time you got out of that bed and left it for someone who needs it.”
Cody didn’t release Katherine’s hand. “I can move in with my wife.”
“No, son.” The doctor lifted a chart. “You’re going home. The United States is going to need good pilots. As of yesterday, Uncle Sam joined in this fight. You boys will be flying under your own flag from now on.”
“But—”
“Bart mustered you out of your unit. You’re going home as soon as you’re able to travel. I’m sending my head nurse back with you to see you get home safely. She’s served more than her time here. From what I understand, we can use a few thousand pilots who know how to fly like you and Bart. They’ll be telling stories of that last mission for years.”
Katherine could hardly contain her joy at the thought of heading back to the States. “What about you, Dr. Wells? Are you going home?”
The doctor shook his head. “More Red Cross nurses are heading over every day. Someone has to stay here and tell them how to run a field hospital.”
Katherine hugged him, realizing the man had finally found his calling.
“God protect you,” she said.
“And God go with you,” he answered.
* * *
Three weeks later Bart watched as Cody was carried toward a supply ship heading back to the States.
“I can walk!” Cody yelled.
“Sure you can.” Bart shoved him none too gently back onto the stretcher. “You’ll fall off the gangplank, and I’ll have to jump in the water to save your hide one more time.”
“I don’t remember asking you to save my life!”
Bart laughed. “I don’t remember you thanking me either, but I’ll let that pass. I got to keep you alive long enough for you to father my future daughter-in-law.”
“What makes you think any daughter of mine will want to marry a Rome?” Cody couldn’t help but smile. “I was hoping to have brighter children than that.”
“You might have if they inherit their brains from their mother.” Bart tipped his hat at Katherine and Sarah, who were waiting at the railing. “I figure our children will marry because of those two. There’s no separating them, you know.”
“I know.” Cody watched the women closely. “To love one is to love them both.”
“That’s a fact,” Bart agreed. “Only I’ll be stationed on the East Coast, and you’ll be out west. Sarah and Kat will be separated by an entire country.”
Cody shook his head as they boarded the ship. “They’ll never be far from each other. If their friendship could survive knowing the two of us, it’ll survive a few miles.”
The men neared as Sarah raised her hand in the air and Katherine did the same. As the women’s palms touched Sarah said, “We’ll be friends forever and ever.”
“Forever and ever,” Katherine answered.
The ship’s horn bellowed as Bart saluted Cody; his face and his life were no longer in shadows.
Cody pulled a French coin from his pocket. He pitched the copper five-cent piece at his old friend. “For my life, Bartholomew. Hang on to that,” he yelled above all the racket. “If a Rome ever needs a Masters, send the coin and we’ll be there.”
Bart nodded and slipped the coin into his vest pocket. He placed his arm around Sarah and they moved toward the cabins. When he leaned on her slightly, his limp was hardly noticeable.
Katherine moved to Cody’s side. “I love you,” she told him. “Think you can endure being grounded until this ship reaches harbor?”
“As long as I’m with you,” he answered as he pressed her hand to his lips, “I’ll always fly under the rainbow and touch the stars with you by my side.”
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