Husband Found
Page 18
Like he’d tried to do.
Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn.
She had every right not to trust him.
He had to get back to her. Tonight. He had to prove that he was going to stick around for the rest of her life, no matter what happened.
He couldn’t get discouraged by the fact that she didn’t trust him. Her mistrust bad built up over years of emotional abuse. He couldn’t expect to overcome that in a month. It might take years, but he didn’t care. He was patient, and he was stubborn. One day, she’d trust him. He was going to make it his mission in life.
He landed in Houston at ten. Since he had no luggage, he went straight to the ticket counter. There wasn’t another flight to Memphis on any airline until the red-eye at six-thirty the next morning.
He booked a seat, then resisted the urge to call Emma. What needed to be said needed to be said in person.
He decided against calling his parents, too. They didn’t know he was flying in tonight. No sense in disturbing them. If they came to get him, they’d have to bring him right back in just a few hours.
So he bought a bestseller at the only newsstand open late, found a reasonably comfortable seat and sat down to wait out the night.
Rafe reined in his impatience as passengers hauled down their overhead luggage and meandered into the Memphis airport. Because he’d bought his ticket late last night, he’d had a seat all the way in the rear.
He was anxious to get home to Emma. Through the long night, he’d been coming up with all kinds of things Emma’s mistrusting mind might be convincing her of—tike he’d never loved her, like he’d just been using her to regain his memories.
Why couldn’t he have realized what he was doing before he’d gotten on that stupid plane?
Rafe shoved the self-reprimand aside. He’d had that argument with himself all night, too, and there was no answer.
Finally he saw the light at the end of the jetway. He squeezed past several slow-moving passengers and past the gate.
Three strides out, he stopped so suddenly a man behind bumped into him. Rafe barely noticed. The only thing he saw was Emma sitting in the second row of seats.
He shook his head to clear it, but she was still there, rising slowly to her feet, her eyes wide.
Rafe? He saw her mouth his name, but the noisy crowd and airline announcements drowned out the sound.
Two more strides brought him close enough to enfold her in his arms. Her arms wrapped around him, so tight he thought she’d never let go.
Thank God.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
When they realized they were uttering the litany in unison, they pulled apart enough to smile nervously at each other.
Still amazed to find her here, Rafe pushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “How did you know I was coming in?”
“I didn’t.” She twisted and pulled a ticket from her purse. “I’m about to get on a plane to Houston.”
Rafe glanced at the ticket, then searched her beautiful, loving face. Joy exploded in his chest like fireworks. She was going to Houston. She did trust him. She did love him.
He couldn’t resist tasting her lips. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
He smiled. “I know.”
“What—” Emma was jostled from behind.
Rafe glanced up to glare at a man bent over to get something out of his carry-on bag. Realizing they stood in the middle of a crowded airport gate, Rafe took Emma’s hand and drew her down the terminal to a deserted area. He pulled her into a corner and into his arms.
“That’s better. Now we can talk.”
“What are you doing here?” she demanded. “You went to Houston, didn’t you?”
He nodded. “Then I took the first plane back.”
“You did?” It was like a switch had suddenly been turned on, making her face shine with love.
He nodded. “As soon as I was in the air, I realized I was making a huge mistake. You’re right, querida. The past doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re in my arms right now, and that you stay here.”
“Oh, Rafe.” Emma was suddenly blinded by tears. It humbled her to realize how much he was willing to give up because he loved her. “Your memories—”
“Damn my memories.” He tightened his hold. “They aren’t what makes me whole. You do.”
The tears spilled over the brink of her lids. “That’s the most beautiful thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
He kissed her temple. “Let’s go home, mi corazón.”
He started to pull her down the terminal, but Emma dug in her heels. “No.”
He stopped and arched a brow at her.
“We’re going to Houston,” she told him firmly. “On the next plane.”
He smiled sadly. “You don’t have to do this, querida. I told you—”
“I know what you told me, but you’re wrong. The past does matter, at least to you. So we’re going to Houston so you can have all of your memories.”
“But—”
“Let me do this for you. Please.” She lovingly ran a finger down the scar on his face. “You’ve done so much for me.”
“I thought you were worried I’d go back to reporting.”
“I still am. But if that’s what you want to do, I’ll bravely kiss you goodbye and send you on your way.” She smiled wryly. “I’ll worry the whole time you’re gone and make you call me every hour on the hour, but—”
He pulled her close. “I’m not going back to reporting. Never. Understand?”
She put her fingers across his lips. “Hush. We don’t know what the future will bring. All we have is today. Let’s just be glad we’re together now.”
“I’m not going back to reporting,” he insisted. “I need you to trust me on this, Emma.”
She was amazed to realize she did. “I do trust you. Isn’t that remarkable? I haven’t felt like this in years. I feel so...light. So free.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him thoroughly on the mouth. “Thank you, querido. You’ve given me back the ability to trust, something I thought I’d lost forever.”
“So now you’re like you were when we were married, aren’t you? Is it all right for me to love you for who you were then, because that’s who you are now?”
She gave him a crooked smile. “You can love me any way you want to. Just love me.”
Taking her face between his hands, he gave her a solemn kiss. “The way I love you is forever.”
“But—”
“I know you said we don’t have any guarantee of tomorrow. But I know I love you now, and I know I’ll love you a minute from now. And that minute I know I’ll love you the next minute, and so on, and so on, until our souls merge after eons in Heaven.”
She could barely speak past the emotion constricting her throat. “Talk about pressure. I guess I have to be good the rest of my life, don’t I? So I can be in Heaven with my angel. Maybe your wings will be healed by then.”
He shook his head. “My wings are already healed. Your love and Gabe’s love have made me whole. My family is all I need. Now let’s go home.”
“What about my ticket to Houston?”
“Let’s trade it in on a ticket to the Bahamas. Or would you rather go to the mountains on our honeymoon?”
She laced her fingers with his as they turned toward the terminal. “Now that your wings are healed, why don’t you just fly us?”
“Maybe I will, querida.” He leaned down to kiss her. “At the moment, I feel like I could.”
Look for Martha Shields’s next
heartwarming Silhouette Romance,
THE PRINCESS AND THE COWBOY.
Our special VIRGIN BRIDES title,
in November 1999.
ISBN : 978-1-4592-5956-0
HUSBAND FOUND
Copyright © 1999 by Martha Shields
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