She nodded. He pulled his finger away from her lips, took her hand and led her over to a bench by the water. They sat.
“As you know, Samantha found Marisa’s original letter,” he said. “In some ways, it’s harder to read than the fake one Melody had The Anemoi create to help her steal custody of my girls. She forgives me for the problems in our marriage and asks for my forgiveness, too. We both made a lot of mistakes and there’s a lot here I wish we could’ve said to each other when she was alive. Maybe if I hadn’t been overseas things might have been different, I don’t know.” He took a deep breath in, and let it out again. “She does mention Melody, but only as someone who’d scared Ivy once by leaving her home alone when she was supposed to be watching the girls. She looked into getting a restraining order against her, but Melody disappeared so she never pressed it. I don’t think she ever had any idea how dangerous she really was—”
“And the girls?” Zoe asked.
“They’re mine,” Leo said. He laughed. “She doesn’t say anything at all about them not being mine and in fact mentions several times how grateful she is that I’m the man who fathered her children. She thinks we made beautiful children.”
Zoe smiled. “You did.”
Leo reached around her waist and pulled her up onto his lap. “Since you seem incapable of not interrupting, how about you read this final part?”
She nestled into the strength of his arm and looked down at where he was pointing.
“Finally,” she read aloud.
“Leo, I want you to be happy. I want you to forgive yourself and forgive me for the mistakes of our past. I want you to let go of guilt. I know I once made you promise that if anything ever happened to me, you wouldn’t consider any other relationships until the girls were grown. That was my fear and pain talking.
“But now that I’m gone, I want you to go find love. Find a woman who loves you, who makes you happy, who fills your heart with joy and makes you the man God wants you to be. Find a woman who will love our girls and be a second mother to them. That is my final prayer for you, dear Leo. Find happiness. Find joy. Find love. Be happy.
Thank you for everything,
Marisa”
Her words faded. He pulled the letter from her hands.
“I’m ready to be happy, Zoe,” he said. “What makes me happy is you. I don’t know why I needed Marisa to point it out to me, but she’s right. I’m ready to start again. You fill my heart with joy. I had no idea love could feel like this.” He slid his hands along her back. His fingers tangled in her hair. “I’m in love with you, Zoe. I don’t know what happens next or how long it will take to put this whole nightmare behind us. But I know I want you to be a part of my life and part of the girls’ lives. I know that I now have hope for the future again, because of you.”
She looked up at him. “I love you, too.”
His lips found hers. He kissed her deeply and firmly. Then he let her go and, holding tightly to her hand, they ran down the dock together to greet the girls.
EPILOGUE
“Look at me, Zoe! Watch me!” Eve called. “I’m making it rain two colors of flowers at once!”
Zoe looked up at the tree above her head, as both pink and white flower petals showered down around her. Eve hung upside down from the tree above her in the sparkling dress she’d worn to Alex and Theresa’s wedding. “Did you ever see one tree that could grow two flowers?”
“I think it’s two types of trees that grew together,” Zoe said. “Is this what you needed me to see?”
“Wait,” Eve called. “I need to climb even higher for it to really work!”
Zoe laughed and looked out over Cedar Lake. Alex and Theresa’s wedding had been beautiful and elegant, held on the site of the new cottage that the happy couple were in the process of building. It had been a small event, with only a few friends, family members and neighbors from the lake, coming together for a simple potluck. Now the event was done. Most people had gone home. But before Zoe could help with cleaning up, Eve had grabbed her by the hand and dragged her away to show her this special tree.
Late May sunshine glinted on the lake. Another spring had ended and another summer was about to begin. It had been almost a year since The Anemoi had threatened Leo and the girls. Seth was in the wind again, but his intel had proved true and thanks in no small part to Leo’s work, the drug network was being dismantled. Admiral Jacobs had been very pleased with the additional data that naval intelligence had gleaned by interrogating the foreign criminals that had been captured following the attack on the cottage. Melody had been arrested, too, and was getting the help she needed.
Leo had decided to resign from the military to work with Ash Private Security. Zoe had continued to spend time with Leo and his girls, slowly and gently growing into each other’s lives, entangled together, like the branches of the half cherry and half crab apple tree, raining down flowers above her head.
“Now watch,” Eve commanded. “You are watching, right?”
Zoe laughed again. “I’m watching.”
“Catch me, I’m a flower!” Eve dropped from the tree and into Zoe’s arms, a giggling mess of happiness, flower petals and sunshine. Zoe kissed her head and set her on the ground.
“You’ve got something in your hair.” A deep voice made her look up. Leo was coming through the trees toward her. Ivy was by his side, with Oz held firmly under one arm and Fluff under the other. Both dogs were in large sparkling bows.
“I’m sure I have a lot of things in my hair,” Zoe said, as Leo reached down and plucked out petals. “Eve made the tree rain.”
Eve giggled and scampered back up the path toward the cottage with Ivy. The girls and dogs disappeared into the trees.
“Come on,” Leo said. “Alex and Theresa want to say goodbye to you before they leave for their honeymoon.” He slipped his hand into Zoe’s. They walked up the path. “Ivy and Eve love you so much.”
“I love them, too,” Zoe said. “Getting to know you all is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Leo pulled her tighter to his side. “You’re the best thing that could’ve possibly happened to us.”
A giggling cry cut through the trees.
“Zoe!” Eve called. “Help!”
Zoe gripped Leo’s hand. They ran, pushing through the branches. The trees parted and they saw Eve and Ivy standing on the top balcony of the cottage shouting Zoe’s name. Alex, Theresa, Samantha and Josh ran out onto the balcony toward them, their arms filled with wedding gifts. Zoe’s mind whirled. Why were the girls shouting? What was going on? Theresa was carrying a large, colorfully decorated cardboard box. Before Zoe even had time to think, it slipped and fell from the new bride’s hands. The box tumbled over the edge of the balcony and down toward the ground below.
“Zoe! Catch it!” Ivy yelled.
Zoe dropped Leo’s hand and dove for it, her fingertips clasping over it inches before it hit the ground. She rolled back to her feet and held it up. It was remarkably light.
“Got it!” Zoe called. She looked up. Why were the girls giggling? The box fell open. It was Theresa’s wedding bouquet.
Zoe looked up. Theresa was smiling apologetically. Alex was laughing into his hand. Josh was grinning. Samantha was smiling behind the lens of a camera. Ivy and Eve were practically leaping up and down with joy.
“She caught the wedding bouquet, Daddy!” Eve shouted. “She caught the wedding bouquet! Now you have to get married.”
Leo chuckled. He reached for her hand. “Well, if we have to, I guess we have to.”
“You set this up.” Zoe looked at him in surprise, then up to her loved ones, clustered on the balcony. “You all set me up!”
“Don’t hold it against them,” Leo said softly. “Think of it as mobilizing the entire team to achieve a singular objective.”
“I love you.” Leo dropped to his knees at her feet. “I started falling in love with you that first moment we met. I’ve been falling deeper and deeper in love with you every moment since then. Please marry me.”
Above her, Zoe could hear the excited shrieks and giggles of the girls she’d grown to love. But her eyes locked on Leo.
“This is the part where you say yes,” he whispered. His eyebrows rose. “My girls and I won’t feel complete without you.”
“Yes, of course I’ll marry you!” She laughed and he pulled a small ring box from his pocket, opened it and revealed a ring with three stones. The diamond in the center was ringed by an emerald on one side and a sapphire on the other, for the small family of three that had stolen her heart and invited her to join them.
“You didn’t have to go to all this trouble,” she whispered as he slid it onto her finger. “I would’ve agreed to marry you over a slice of pizza while sitting on the couch.”
“I know,” he said. “But where would the fun have been in that?”
Then he swept her up into his arms and spun her around.
“She said yes!” he shouted.
“Of course I did!” Zoe shouted.
Then they kissed as cheering erupted above them and fresh flower petals rained down around them.
* * * * *
If you enjoyed PROTECTIVE MEASURES, look for the other books in the TRUE NORTH BODYGUARDS series:
KIDNAPPED AT CHRISTMAS
RESCUE AT CEDAR LAKE
Keep reading for an excerpt from TRACKING SECRETS by Heather Woodhaven.
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Dear Reader,
When was the last time you did something that scared you? I’ve never written a book about children before this one. Honestly, I’ve always been intimidated by the thought of creating small fictional children and letting them run loose on the page. But I wrote this over the summer, when my own girls were home from school, and they encouraged me to bring Ivy and Eve to life.
Like Zoe, I was once told I’d never have children, and while that turned out not to be the case, that moment is still sharp in my memory. Like both Leo and Zoe, I’ve had plenty of days worrying that I wasn’t as good a parent as I wanted to be. I’m so thankful to my girls for helping me find strength and courage I never knew I had.
Thank you again to all the amazing readers who’ve gotten in touch with their thoughts, questions and suggestions about the characters and their stories. The best place to reach me is on Twitter at @MaggieKBlack or through my website, www.maggiekblack.com. I really do love hearing what you think. Several of you wrote to ask me what Seth from Tactical Rescue was up to now, and I was glad when Leo and Zoe’s brush with espionage gave a little bit of a hint into that.
Also, Arwen wrote to ask what had happened to the cat in Kidnapped at Christmas. The cat is doing great. Samantha found it when she was moving out of her apartment. It’s now very happy living with her and Josh, and often curls up on the chair beside her when she’s reading.
Thank you all for sharing this journey with me,
Maggie
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Tracking Secrets
by Heather Woodhaven
ONE
Nick Kendrick lifted the edge of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his eyes. He needed to run only a little farther before starting his cooldown. A creek to his left rushed over boulders. The birds chirped and trees rustled in the breeze.
Despite his struggle to get started, the exertion loosened his neck and back muscles after a long day of treating animals and appeasing their owners. The trails south of Barings, Idaho, were a treat for the senses. He could leave all the stress behind.
A black Labrador rounded the corner, followed by a woman. Her brown hair, highlighted by the sun, blew back in waves. Unlike him in his sloppy basketball shorts and gray T-shirt, she looked as if she had just stepped out of a corporate meeting. A peach button-down blouse and matching pleated skirt ended just past her knees. Her sparkly sandals reflected the sunlight streaming through the trees.
While pretty, it wasn’t exactly the most practical apparel for hiking the trail on the outskirts of town. The black Lab by her side looked to be a little over a year old, maybe two. If he had to guess, the dog still had to gain a good ten pounds before it’d be considered full-grown.
The lady’s wide eyes regarded him. Perhaps she was a client, as he was the only veterinarian in the area. If he got closer, he might recognize the dog, which could jar his memory. He’d been so inundated with meeting new people the past several months that he was failing to recall their names.
She frowned and slid her hand into a pocket hidden by the folds in her skirt. If she carried pepper spray, or worse, he didn’t want to do anything to startle her. He moved as far right as the trail would allow.
The dog stiffened, and the little hairs on the back of its neck sprung up like a Mohawk hairstyle. Nick followed the dog’s gaze behind him but couldn’t see anything past the barbed wire fence except aspens and cottonwood trees. He wasn’t positive, but he thought the property bumped up against his own.
Was barbed wire really necessary around the residential property? The first wire started two feet off the ground—unless there was another hidden by the tall grass and weeds—followed by two more lines roughly a foot apart.
A rustle in the trees triggered an electric feeling in Nick’s spine, and he came to an abrupt stop. A patch of brown moved. A squirrel camouflaged within the matted leaves between the trees wagged its tail.
The dog shot past him, darting underneath the fence. The woman cried out, holding a leash with a collar dangling from its clip. Nick narrowed his gaze and suppressed a groan. Didn’t she know better than to walk a dog with a breakaway collar?
“Dog!” she hollered. “Come back!” She ran past him toward the fence and placed a hand over her mouth at the sight of the barbed wire.
“I’ll help you get him.” The words were out of his mouth before he could process what that would mean. How would he get over the barbed wire?
“I think it’s a her.”
His jaw dropped. “You think? You aren’t sure?” He cleared his throat and tried to focus on the task at hand. He couldn’t afford to get a bad reputation in a small town, but people really shouldn’t own dogs without at least some knowledge of how to take care of them properly.
Unless he was willing
to slide through on his belly, which he wasn’t, the options for getting past the fence were limited. He put one foot on the bottom line to lower it as far as possible. He slipped off the other sneaker and used it like a glove to lift the upper line.
The woman didn’t hesitate and stepped through the space. The edge of her skirt caught on one of the barbs, forming a string that now hung down past the hem. She groaned. “I wore the wrong clothing for this. It was supposed to be a nice stroll. Dog!” she hollered again.
“It might help if you called her by her name.”
She ignored him and gingerly took his sneaker from his hand so she could mirror his method of holding the barbed wire apart. “Your turn,” she said. “Maybe we should call the police. I’m a little worried the owners won’t take kindly to intruders if they have a barbed wire fence.”
“I’m pretty certain they won’t mind if we’re merely trying to get a dog off their land.” He bent over to step through the space then slipped his shoe back on. It would also give him an excuse to introduce himself to them. If his neighbors knew something he didn’t, maybe he needed to invest in an upgrade of his own fence. He scanned the land and spotted movement ahead. The dog had slowed near a house barely visible through the thick grove of trees. He quickened his pace back to a jog.
“Speaking of names, I’m Nick Kendrick.”
She raised her eyebrows and pumped her arms alongside him. “That rhymes. I’m Alexis.”
Nick couldn’t help but notice she didn’t offer a last name. “And you don’t know your dog’s name?” He tried to keep the frustration from his voice.
“No, I do...” She inhaled but focused on her footing. The sandals were strapped on but couldn’t be very comfortable for running through a forest. “I think it’s... Raven. Yeah. I’m pretty sure that’s her name. And it’s not my dog. I’m temping for a pet-sitting service.”
Her hands moved to emphasize each sentence. “I said I’d never pet sit, but I let my friend twist my arm since it’s a holiday weekend. I’m worried the dog won’t come back to me. She doesn’t know me. I was supposed to take her for a forty-five minute walk. That’s it.”
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