by Cara North
“Will you marry me?” He blurted it out and she laughed. She bit her lower lip and nodded her head.
“Yes.” She leaned over and kissed him. “Though I will say that I found my gift and it wasn’t a ring, Handsome.”
He closed his eyes and relaxed back onto the pillow. “I bought that necklace before we broke up. I was going to give it to you for…”
“I’m wearing it now. I love it. Wait until you see what I got for you.” She touched the honey bee charm hanging from the delicate chain. She had put it on immediately when she found it. It helped her to focus on the fact that they were back together and that he was going to be okay.
“Slippers?” His lips tilted in a smile.
“A key.” She settled in next to him on the hospital bed and cuddled up as best she could. “Your key.”
“I’m going to need it. I have a feeling I’ll be out of work a while.” He sounded defeated.
“Actually, because I was able to hack your code and get your phone copy technology to work, I think we both may be useful as a team. They aren’t firing you. They took Steven into custody. Apparently, my dad isn’t the bad guy I thought he was either. He had been working for the government as a spy or some shit. He’s at the hotel now. He’s been here, with me, with you…”
“I can’t even…” He closed his eyes.
“The police are here.” She gulped. He didn’t hear them because he may never hear in that ear again.
“I didn’t…Am I…” He looked at her a new wave of panic and uncertainty in his expression.
“They don’t know if it’s permanent yet.” She slid her fingers along his cheek. “I love you. That’s all that matters right now. You are alive and we are together. If your arm never quite comes back to full strength and your hearing doesn’t return in that ear, I will love you just the same. If it were me…”
He gripped her hand and squeezed. “I’m glad it’s not you.”
She leaned in and kissed him quickly as the officers approached.
Epilogue
Five Years Later
Holiday looked at the watch and smiled. They were on their way up the driveway. “Okay Grandpa, get ready, here they come.”
“How does it look?” Holiday turned to look at his father-in-law, the man who decided to stop his pursuit of politics and finally retire after his covert mission almost cost Holiday his life.
The General still had a Marine Corps haircut, but the kids wouldn’t mind. They knew this was grandpa dressed up as Santa for them as he had since their oldest, Howard Holiday the Third, had turned two. Holiday didn’t mind the name Howard so much anymore. He was going to be a good dad, which is why Phoebe insisted on naming their son after him. They called him Howie. Their daughter, a year younger, named Beatrice so they could call her Little Bee, was four going on forty.
The door opened and his family ran in and greeted them with big hugs and then surprise squeals of laughter and joy that Grandpa was there early. Phoebe hugged her dad, then settled at Holiday’s side, the side with his good ear, the right one never recovered from the shot, but his shoulder had. “Did you know?”
Holiday nodded. “He wanted it to be a surprise. He showed up this afternoon. He gets earlier every year.”
“Maybe he can watch them this weekend and we can…”
“Work on setting up surveillance? Yeah. I already got that set. Stop working, Bee. It’s Christmas.” He pulled her into a hug.
“I don’t know. Are you keeping me hostage or something?” She snickered as she looked up at him. He looked down at her.
“I used all the rope yesterday.” He licked his lips and waited. Bee had been true to her word and the past five years she had been equally giving in the bedroom.
She tiptoed up and whispered in his good ear, “I bought more today.”
With a wink, she left him standing there, shocked. They had teased about it, but he had a feeling this Christmas they were going to learn something new about each other. He couldn’t wait to see what happened in ten years.
The End