“Aren’t you going to test the program?” Sara asked.
In the distance, Pepper barked once sharply. From the sound of her bark, she’d found Abby’s scent.
“You wouldn’t have tried to trick me with your daughter’s life on the line.” Garth cocked the gun and pointed the weapon straight at Sara.
From the bushes, Kirk took the only shot Garth offered. A head shot. Both men fired. Sara screamed but appeared to be okay.
Garth dropped his weapon. Apparently Kirk had gotten off his shot just soon enough to throw off the other man’s aim. A crease of blood streaked from Garth’s forehead and into his eyes, and he staggered backward, then spun around and ran.
Sara jumped to her feet and placed herself between Kirk’s gun and Garth’s back. “Don’t shoot him! He never told me where to find Abby.”
“Pepper’s found her scent.”
Within thirty seconds, they heard the boat’s motor roaring to life. Apparently Web hadn’t had enough time to swim and disengage the engines.
Kirk took Sara’s hand, and together they followed the sound of Pepper’s excited barks.
Sara’s voice rose with anxiety. “I’m almost afraid to find her. What if he kill—”
“Abby’s alive. I can tell from Pepper’s barks.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Have a little faith in me, Sara.”
In front of them, the bushes parted and Web stepped from between the branches, holding a baby in his arms. Abby! An obviously excited and proud Pepper walked beside him.
Sara released Kirk’s hand and broke into a run. “Abby? Are you okay, sweetie?”
“That dog led me right to her. Garth had left her on the side bank wrapped in a blanket.” Web grinned, and Kirk refrained from thinking about alligators. “I’m no doctor but other than a few mosquito bites on her arms, she seems just fine.”
The sound of the fleeing boat’s motor suddenly died. As Sara held Abby to her chest in delight, tears of joy brimming from her eyes, Kirk glanced over her head at Web for an explanation.
“His boat just sprang a leak. He won’t get far. The team will pick him up shortly.”
“Abby. Abby. Abby. You had your mama so worried.”
Her daddy, too. Kirk did not want to lose either of them again. Ever.
Abby looked from Sara to Kirk and broke into a huge smile. “Mama. Dada.”
“That’s right.” His heart welled with love and pride. “You’re back where you belong.”
Epilogue
Two weeks later
Sara had felt it only fair to visit Kirk’s ranch. After all, he’d remained with her until the government had purchased her software. Once again, with her daughter back in her arms, she had felt safe. Logan’s team had successfully caught the fleeing Garth, and police had picked up the pilot who had crashed her plane. Both men would remain behind bars for a long time. For his part, the Cowboy appeared innocent of any wrongdoing. He had been on a charter fishing boat in the Cayman Islands for the past two weeks—simply on vacation.
She liked the peacefulness of the acreage Kirk had purchased outright with the cash Logan Kincaid had insisted on paying him for the mission. Even better, she liked the ramifications of his setting down permanent roots. In her mind, owning property meant permanency. She sat on the front porch, breathing in the crisp, clean air, and watched Abby squeal with pleasure as she hung onto Pepper to take her first wobbly steps. If only Sara could be sure Kirk’s enthusiasm for the ranch would last, she’d take him back in a New York minute.
He thrived out here, and she adored having him to herself after having shared him with the U.S. Marine Corps for so many years. But she’d already seen a sign of the old restlessness in him. When Logan Kincaid had asked him for an answer about joining the Shey Group, Kirk had left the possibilities open, unwilling to commit himself but promising to take a look at future projects on a case-by-case basis.
Kirk took a seat beside her and placed a puppy in her lap. The dog wagged his tail and sniffed inquisitively.
Sara scratched the soft fur behind the floppy ears. “Abby’s going to be walking soon.”
“If you stay, I’ll find time to add a spare bedroom onto the back—”
“If I stay, I’m building my dream house.”
Kirk chuckled. “I like the idea of you spoiling me.”
“I’m scared, Kirk.”
He slipped his hand inside hers. “I know.”
She had to be romantically challenged to question this man as her lifetime partner. He’d risked his life to save her and Abby, whom he obviously adored. “Suppose you got offered your dream job tomorrow?”
“That’s not going to happen.”
His firmness made her turn her head. His eyes, so fierce, so determinedly amused, so loving, never failed to burn straight to her heart. She loved Kirk, always had, always would. And she knew him well enough to tell when he kept secrets from her.
“What haven’t you told me?”
“Last week, the Marines offered me command of their worldwide canine operations.”
Her heart tripped and almost dropped to her stomach. “And?”
“I turned them down.”
He’d turned them down. “For me? Suppose I don’t change my mind about us getting back together? Won’t you regret that decision?”
“Nope. I’m not leaving because I want to be near you so that I can change your mind. And if you choose to keep me at a distance, I’ll still want to be near our daughter.”
Sara could barely take in the magnitude of his revelation. He wasn’t turning down his fantasy job because she’d asked it of him—but because he wanted to remain close. “What about Logan’s offer?”
“Not all his missions are dangerous. Sometimes they do search and rescue. I’ve told him I’d give him an answer on a case-by-case basis. You’d be in on those decisions, okay?”
“You aren’t going to change your mind, are you?”
“Nope.”
With a gladness that made her forget the puppy in her lap, she looped her arms around his neck and tugged his head down for a kiss. “Marry me again, Kirk Hardaker.”
The puppy leaped off her lap and headed toward Pepper and Abby to check out the fun.
At her bold proposal, amusement and love shimmered in Kirk’s eyes. “I was wondering how long it would take for you to ask.”
ISBN: 978-1-4592-4077-3
DADDY TO THE RESCUE
Copyright © 2003 by Susan Hope Kearney
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
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* The Sutton Babies
†† Heroes, Inc.
† Hide and Seek
** The Crown Affair
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