“This is so sudden.”
“Is it, or is it ten years too late?” He bit down on his lip.
“I…I…” she said, but thoughts of a lifetime with Gage stole her voice.
“Yes is all you have to say.”
“Yes.” The word whispered out.
Gage shot to his feet, lifted her into his arms, and swung her in a circle. “I promise to be the husband you deserve. The father David deserves. And to love you for the rest of our lives.”
“I can’t ask for anything more than that,” she said into his neck.
“Wait.” He stopped spinning and set her down. “A ring. You deserve a ring. I’ll get one as soon as possible and make this official.”
“I don’t need a ring to make it official.” She smiled up at him. “A kiss will do.”
“Oh, right. Yeah. You don’t need to ask me twice for that.” His head swooped down and their lips connected.
A crash of emotions rolled over her like a tidal wave, and her knees went weak. She curled her arms around his neck and clung to him for dear life.
Why had she waited so long to agree to this? She would have to be plumb crazy not to want this wonderful, amazing man in her life for good.
“Gage,” Opal’s voice floated around the corner. “Jackson says he needs you.”
Gage lifted his head but held onto Hannah. “Guess we better go see what he needs or we’ll have a bunch of hungry guys hunting us down. You don’t want to see my team when they’re deprived of food.”
Opal rounded the corner and stopped dead in her tracks. “Will you look at that! It’s about time you two quit mooning over each other and did something about it. I thought I was going to have to knock some sense in the pair of you.”
Hannah laughed. “All my fault, Opal. I was dragging my feet.”
“But she agreed to marry me. You heard it and now she can’t back out.”
Opal let out a loud whoop and came running to hug them.
“About Jackson,” Gage said as he extracted himself.
“He says the propane’s run out. I told him there’s a spare tank in the garage, but he said he wants you to hook it up.” Opal rolled her eyes.
Gage grabbed Hannah’s hand and the three of them set off.
“Keep this to yourself, Opal,” he warned. “Until we can tell Mia and David.”
“Mark my words, they’ll both be over the moon.”
Hannah knew David would be thrilled, but she wasn’t as certain Mia would respond well. Sure, she’d opened up a bit the last few days, but still, she’d been unpredictable. One minute she seemed to like Hannah. The next minute she was reserved. She rarely accepted a touch or hug…hanging just out of reach.
Gage went into the garage, and Hannah sat at the table where David was gulping down a bottle of water like he’d come from a desert. Gage finished connecting the tank, and after serving the burgers and hot dogs, he came to stand behind Hannah and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Wondering how Mia might react to Gage touching her, Hannah looked for the little girl and spotted her with Gage’s parents. She peeked around her grandmother’s leg.
“Mia,” David shouted. “Come eat with me.”
She came running in her precious little gait, but suddenly stopped and eyed Hannah and Gage. Hannah couldn’t read the child’s expression and could hardly breathe, wondering how she would react. She stopped directly in front of Hannah, her eyes filled with trepidation. Hannah’s heart creased, wishing she knew what to do for this little urchin whose brain put her in a muddle of confusion much of the time.
Hannah opened her mouth to speak—to say what, Hannah didn’t know—but then Mia took a few more steps and slid up on Hannah’s lap. Her back to Hannah, she sat there as if this was the most normal thing in the world. If Hannah had been baffled over what to do before, this was even more perplexing. She glanced at Gage for guidance, his shocked expression speaking volumes.
Mia sat there motionless until Gage stepped around the side of the table and held up a large knife. “Now who wants watermelon?”
His gaze first landed on Mia, then on Hannah, a heart-melting smile beaming from his face.
Mia’s hand shot up. “I do, Daddy!”
“Me, too,” David said.
And just like that, with the simple promise of watermelon hanging in the air, they all seemed to let out a sigh of relief and morphed into a little family on the brink of a promising future together.
OTHER BOOKS IN THE COLD HARBOR SERIES
Book 2
Want to play a game…
When research chemist Kiera Underwood receives a cryptic phone call about her twin brother, she tries to contact him to no avail. Her twin sense tingles, warning her that something is wrong. When he doesn’t return her call, and the manager at Oceanic Labs claims he didn’t come into work that day, she heads to Cold Harbor. But when she arrives in town to find the door to her bother’s house ajar, she races to the lab to question his fellow employees.
Solve the puzzle and save your brother…
Kiera’s not prepared when an attempt is made on her life and Blackwell Tactical operative and former Army Ranger, Cooper Ashcroft delivers her second shock of the day. Someone killed the lab supervisor and stole a deadly biotoxin. The main suspect? Her brother, and Blackwell Tactical has been hired to bring him in. If that wasn’t shocking enough, she’s suspected of colluding with him. She had nothing to do with the theft or murder, and despite the evidence staring her in the face, she knows that her brother is innocent of all charges. She sets out to prove it, and she’s soon the victim of a near abduction thwarted by Coop. He’s faced with the reality that she’s telling the truth and someone has likely abducted her brother—perhaps killed him—and now Kiera’s very life is in danger, too.
THANKS FOR READING
I am so pleased that you purchased Cold Terror, and I’m excited to tell you that it’s book one in my upcoming Cold Harbor series featuring Blackwell Tactical. When trouble strikes, there’s no better team to have on your side. And let me tell you, I have plenty of trouble planned for the series.
I’d like to invite you to learn more about the books in the Cold Harbor series when they release and my other books by signing up for my newsletter. You’ll also receive a FREE sneak peek of my latest book. Go here to sign up for the newsletter and to connect with me on social media or even send me a message. I love to interact with and hear from readers, so hop on over and let’s connect.
Thanks again for purchasing Cold Terror,
Susan Sleeman
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A special thank you to Ashley L. Adams Aycock - Paramedic – NRP for the paramedic information she shared. Any errors in or liberties taken with the technical information Ashley provided are all my doing.
ALSO BY SUSAN SLEEMAN
White Knights Series - Join the White Knights as they investigate stories plucked from today’s news headlines. The six member FBI Critical Incident Response Team includes experts in crisis management, explosives, ballistics/weapons, negotiating/criminal profiling, cyber crimes, and forensics. All team members are former military and they stand ready to deploy within four hours, anytime and anywhere to mitigate the highest-priority threats facing our nation.
McKade Law Series - Set in Lost Creek, a fictitious town in the Texas Hill Country, a member of the McKade family has been the county sheriff and/or a deputy for the last 125 years. The series features four McKade siblings along with their grandparents, Jed and Betty McKade, and parents, Walt and Winnie McKade. In addition to law enforcement duties, they also own a working dude ranch. Walt is the soon to retire sheriff, and his children are all law enforcement professionals.
Agents Under Fire Series - An elite FBI Cyber Action Team, the three female agents in this series investigate deadly cyber crimes. Deadly not only for the world, but each crime carries personal stakes that agents Kaitlyn Knight, Nina Brandt, and Rebecca Lange must neutralize or they could very well lose their own
lives.
First Responders Series - Join the First Response Squad, a six member county Critical Incident Response team, as they report to explosive emergencies and find themselves embroiled in life threatening situations of their own. And join in on the camaraderie at their home, an old firehouse remodeled to provide a home and team meeting facility for this talented team of law enforcement officers.
The Justice Agency Series - When Robert and Patricia Justice are brutally gunned down and the police are unable to solve the murder, their five adopted children come together from careers in various branches of law enforcement to investigate and solve the murder. With the case solved, the siblings discover they work well together and form the Justice Agency. Now they dedicate their lives to helping others who traditional law enforcement has failed and in the process, find their very lives in danger, too.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SUSAN SLEEMAN is a bestselling and award-winning author of more than 30 inspirational/Christian and clean read romantic suspense books. In addition to writing, Susan also hosts the website, TheSuspenseZone.com.
Susan currently lives in Oregon, but has had the pleasure of living in nine states. Her husband is a retired church music director and they have two beautiful daughters, a very special son-in-law, and an adorable grandson.
For more information visit:
www.susansleeman.com
Table of Contents
Copyright
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
Other Books in the Cold Harbor Series
Thanks for Reading
Acknowledgments
Also by Susan Sleeman
About the Author
Cold Terror Page 12