Jared ran to his mother’s side where she had fallen to her knees from the force of the blow, gently prying the poker out of her hands before wrapping his arms tightly around her. “That was the stupidest, craziest, bravest, fucking thing I’ve ever seen, don’t ever do that again. You scared ten fricken years off my life.”
“Don’t swear,” She wept from the vicinity of his armpit, the tension of the last hour catching up to her. “Nobody hurts my Sara Sunshine and gets away with it. I love you, son of mine.”
“It’s alright now, Momma, it’s over. You rock by the way, and I love you too. After things settle down we need to talk.”
“Okay, son.”
Sara ran to where Nick had fallen, still cradled in his best friend’s arms and crumbled to the floor beside him. Her hands were shaking as she searched his body in the gloomy light, and he bit down on a groan when her fingers encountered a warm stickiness along his outer thigh. “Nick, oh my God, Nick, he shot you.”
He grunted from the pain as she neared the wound, then was shocked when she whipped her shirt up over her head and bundled it up to press it where she thought the injury was, cringing as he flinched away.
“It’s going to be okay. Help is on the way, hold on, baby, hold on,” she crooned, trying but not quite succeeding to control the quiver in her voice. Her free hand reaching brushed the hair back on his clammy forehead. Jake had curled up beside him, whining a little, sensing his pain.
He rubbed his dog’s head and tried to reassure Sara, but his tongue was thick in his mouth, “Don’t worry, honey, it’s just a knick. I’ve had worse. I can’t believe you and Grace nailed him like that, you could have been hurt. I’m so effin proud of you, you did it. You’ll never have to worry about that jackass again, it’s over.”
He caught her hand in his, lowering it to his lips. “I was so freaking scared when I heard those gunshots, and then to see what he was doing to you…” He couldn’t control the shudder that swept over his body, “I felt so helpless.”
His moist gaze sought hers out, “Promise me you’ll never take a crazy chance like that again. I can’t live without you, Sara. I love you more than I ever thought possible. I need you in my life or it wouldn’t be worth living. I never believed in love, never thought I would find someone that I couldn’t live without, until you. I can’t believe how much I love you.”
“Ah, man, I love you too,” Adam’s deep voice coming from over Nick’s shoulder caused them both to start. They’d forgotten he was there. “Does this mean we’re getting married?” He grinned.
“Shut up, Adam,” Nick said, his focus never wavering. “Well, you heard the man. Are we?”
There was only one answer she could give, “Hooyah.”
EPILOGUE
The next morning after everything quietened down and everyone had a chance to recoup, they all met up in the back booth at Grace and Grits to catch each other up.
Adam and Maggie had spent the rest of the night at the Sheriff’s catching up on paperwork, making sure Sheridan and company had an uncomfortable night in lockup. They were both bleary-eyed but cautiously happy. “Sheridan isn’t talking—yet—but his two goons are spilling what they know. We hope to get enough from them to put the pressure on Sheridan. Either way with the papers in that file and what happened last night; he’s in a world of hurt.”
“Two? There were three others with Tom. Sam, Hit-man, and another guy, right, Fiona?” Sara looked over at her friend, nestled in the corner between Frank and Jared, happy as a girl sporting a shiner could look with two hunks vying for her attention.
“Hmm? Yeah, there was, two dark haired creeps, Tom, and his shadow.” The glance she shared with Sara was filled with remembered terror.
Maggie and Adam looked at each other, “One got away then. We’re going to follow up. According to the last entry there’s a large shipment of methamphetamines expected soon along the Texas/Mexico border. We’ll be there, waiting.” Maggie was as determined as ever, arms crossed over her ample chest. Both Adam and Frank wore lovesick looks on their ugly mugs, and Nick hoped their friendship would not be tested because of a woman, no matter how beautiful.
He couldn’t believe Jake had managed to escape the house and show up just in time to help save the day. And Grace, he shook his head in bemusement, Jared came by it honestly. He tightened his hand engulfing Sara’s where it rested on the seat between them, his casted leg settled onto the chair across the way. He’d been lucky, the bullet had passed through the fleshy part of his thigh above the knee, a little lower and it would have shattered his kneecap. Sara had stayed with him the entire night, from the ambulance ride to the hospital, right up to the casting of his leg, and the overnight stay. He’d tried to talk her into going home, getting some rest, and she’d replied they had the rest of their life to rest. He liked that. The connection to her felt right. When she’d said yes last night to his lame-assed proposal all he could think was, thank God.
As soon as possible, he was going to talk to her about divorcing Sheridan, she had more than enough grounds, and then he was going to ask her properly to take a chance on him. Surprisingly, rather than getting freaked out by the thought, he felt a calmness settle over him, a sense of completeness.
The bell above the door jingled, and he looked up in time to see a little human tornado flying down the aisle towards them. He leaned back to let her at her mother, but instead she flew into his arms, her tiny ones wrapping tightly around his neck. “Nick. Oh, Nick. Annie told me you got hurt, are you gonna be ok? I’ll take care of you, don’t worry.”
Now he knew how the Grinch felt, he could swear his heart grew two sizes as he carefully hugged her back, tears springing unashamedly as he looked into Sara’s misty eyes.
He was home.
Grace’s Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce
Fill Dutch oven with mixed bread cubes. I save my crusts of white, brown and cinnamon raison and then rip them into bite size pieces.
Add a couple handfuls of raisins for flavor.
In a separate large bowl, mix 6-8 large eggs and approx. 4 cups of sugar, cinnamon and shake of salt. Add can of pumpkin puree (not pie fill), mix. Slowly add milk until mixture is loose, approx. 1 litre.
Pour mix over bread and stir, should be soupy (not too loose though) Just so you see the liquid through the bread. If not, add a couple more eggs and milk blended together to the mix.
When you have a nice consistency: sprinkle brown sugar, cinnamon and small dollops of margarine over the top.
Cook in pre-heated 350 oven for 1- 1.5 hours. Top will gain a nice crunchy golden look. Take a knife and spread the center apart to tell if done.
Drizzle some of your favorite caramel sundae sauce over the top and enjoy.
Note from the Author
Thank you for taking time to read Tidal Falls. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated.
Links to my website and social media where I talk about H O T guys and dogs are below:
http://jacquiebiggar.com
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http://Twitter.com/jacqbiggar
Dedication
I have so many people I’d like to thank in the making of this, my first novel. First, and foremost my husband, Robert John. Without you I wouldn’t have had the courage to pursue my dreams, thank you.
My mom, who always told me I could be whatever I wanted to be, I just had to try. You were right, as always.
To my critique buddies, you know who you are. Without you pushing me to better myself, this book might not have ever happened.
And to Kim Killion and Jennifer Jakes, for the beautiful cover I’m so proud of, and the formatting and uploading services you provided to save this newbie from pulling her hair out. Thank you.
About the Author
From the time I was twelve years old, I knew I wanted one day to be a writer. That year I wrote a short story
called Count Daffodil after spending countless hours searching for ideas for my English Assignment. That story garnered me an A++ and was read aloud through the school's loudspeaker system. Needless to say, after that I was hooked.
I grew up, got married, raised a family and left my writing urges to simmer in the background unattended.
I owned and operated a successful diner in my hometown for a number of wonderful years. And now I'm ready to take up the writing reins and see how far I can travel.
I expect it to be an exciting, new journey and would be honored to have your company along the way.
And so it starts.
http://jacquiebiggar.com
http://Facebook.com/jacqbiggar
http://Twitter.com/jacqbiggar
Copyright © 2014 Jacquie Biggar
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Thank you.
Tidal Falls (Wounded Hearts Book 1) Page 23