Security Measures

by Sara K. Parker

  Hunter grinned, his dimples showing. “If you were going to wear pajamas, at least you chose Christmas pajamas.”

  Triss’s cheeks warmed. “Technically, they’re not pajamas.”

  “You were beautiful up there,” he said before she could say anything else, and her heart stopped before it remembered to start beating again. Hunter shoved his hands in the pockets of his black slacks, and for the first time Triss’s attention hit on his tie.

  Her lips twitched at the Charlie Brown cartoons adorning the busy tie he’d paired with a wintry blue dress shirt. “You’re not so bad yourself with that amazing tie.”

  He rocked on his heels. “It was this one or the one with blinking Christmas lights. Josie bought them for me at her school’s Christmas fair yesterday and gave them to me today so I’d have something festive to wear.”

  “She’s something,” Triss said, not sure how to transition to what she wanted to say, not sure if the time was right, or the place.

  “I didn’t expect you to be here,” Hunter said after a short pause. The humor was gone now, and he searched her eyes expectantly, as if he knew something had changed.

  “I hadn’t planned to come.” The auditorium erupted suddenly with cheers and applause and the doors opened.

  “Looks like the show’s over,” Hunter said.

  Triss fought disappointment and relief as people started to filter out. They’d run out of time, but she had so much still to say.

  “Daddy!” Levi practically flew out of the auditorium and launched himself into Hunter’s arms. Hunter didn’t miss a beat, scooping him up and shifting him easily to one arm as Samantha and Josie caught up.

  Josie walked straight up to Triss and wrapped her arms around her waist. Triss crouched and rubbed her back, wishing she could pick her up, but was hindered by the bulky cast on her left arm. “You were so brave up there,” she whispered in her ear.

  “Only after you came,” Josie said, not yet looking up.

  “Are you kidding me? At your age, I wouldn’t have gone onstage to try to sing even if someone had paid me a million dollars.”

  Josie giggled and pulled back to look into Triss’s face. “I’m glad you came,” she said with a happy smile, her cheeks pink.

  “Me, too.”

  Triss stood and realized that Josie had slipped her little hand into hers. She caught Samantha’s observant gaze as it moved from Triss and Josie to Hunter and Levi.

  “Can we get hot chocolate?” Josie asked, pointing to the tables of refreshments.

  “How about we fill up our cups and walk the long way home to look at Christmas lights and stop by the playground?” Samantha asked, looking to Hunter for agreement. “You could go home ahead of us and start the popcorn for the movie.”

  Josie and Levi were already running to the hot-cocoa dispensers, and Triss could have hugged Samantha for her intuition.

  “Sounds like a plan,” Hunter said. “Thanks.” He turned to Triss, a question in his eyes. “In the mood for popcorn and a Christmas movie with my crew?”

  She nodded, her heart full. “Let me tell Kaye and Iris.”

  The drive to his house would be short, but they would have time to talk before Samantha and the kids got home.

  Kaye hugged her, careful of her cast. “Just call me if you need a ride,” she said, and then looked straight into her eyes. “Whatever you do, leave nothing unsaid and you’ll have no regrets.”

  Triss tucked away the advice as Hunter walked up to the three of them. He greeted both women with hugs and assured them he would make sure Triss got home safely tonight, and together they made their way through the crowded lobby out into the now-dark evening.

  Christmas was in the air, and so was new hope, and Triss’s stomach fluttered with anticipation as Hunter walked her to the passenger side of his truck and leaned forward to open the door for her.

  But then he paused, his hand on the handle, and she turned to face him.

  “Tell me I’m not reading into this,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I feel like something’s changed, but...”

  “Everything has changed,” Triss said, the words coming out in a whisper of breath that charged the air between them with all that they’d been fighting against and hoping for.

  Without a second’s thought, she stepped close and pressed a kiss to his lips, the chill in the air disappearing in the span of a single heartbeat.

  Hunter’s hand slipped from the door and wrapped around her waist. He tugged her closer, his warmth enveloping her for just seconds until he reluctantly pulled away and opened the door for her.

  She was barely thinking straight when she got into the truck, still reaching for what to say, how to explain.

  Hunter drove carefully through the lot, which was filled with kids and families heading home. The radio station was playing Christmas music, and neighborhood homes were already lit up with decorations. They rode in companionable silence for the three minutes it took to get to his house. He seemed to know that whatever Triss had to say couldn’t be said in the span of the short car trip.

  But as he pulled into his driveway, Triss was overwhelmed with the realization that if she followed through, her entire life was about to change. Doubt nagged at her mind. Had she reacted out of emotion? She’d been through a lot of trauma. Maybe she should have taken more time to think about the future before she’d run off to see Hunter.

  How could she be part of Hunter’s life—of his kids’ lives—and pursue a career that could move her away?

  Hunter came around to her side and opened the truck, offering a hand as she stepped down, and then he didn’t let go of her hand as they walked and he opened the front door for her.

  The scent of cinnamon hit her first, and then she took in the lively scene in front of her—toys on the floor, a Christmas tree half-erected, boxes of decorations in the front room.

  Hunter flipped on lights. “Watch your step. It’s a mess in here.”

  It was a mess. And it felt like home.

  Her questions drifted away, her anxiety dissolved. Fear wouldn’t hold her back again. If God could answer her broken prayers, if He could redeem her broken life with a photo and a one-page letter, she knew He could handle her career. Hunter and the kids came first. The rest would work itself out.

  Triss followed him to the kitchen, where he pulled out a jar of popcorn and a couple of large bowls, then a lighter. “Good night for a fire,” he said, and she followed him into the living room.

  He turned on the gas to the fireplace and used the lighter to start the fire. The coffee table was stacked with picture books, several throw blankets in disarray on the couches, pillows and toys decorating the floor.

  Triss stood uncertain, wondering if she should start the popcorn or take a seat.

  Hunter motioned to the couch. “I think Samantha and the kids will be a while.”

  She sat, propping her casted arm on the side of the couch, and Hunter took the seat next to her, only inches separating them.

  Her heart beat frantically as she gathered the courage to say all that she wanted to say to him. But when she looked into his eyes, she couldn’t find the words. How could she explain the change of heart? How could she tell him what she’d realized when she’d looked at the face of her smiling daughter and read the reassuring letter of her adoptive parents?

  He waited silently, and she knew he wouldn’t push her, so she did the only thing she could think of. She dug her phone out of her pocket and pulled up the photo, turning the screen so he could see it.

  He leaned close, peering at the photo, his shoulder touching hers.

  “Your daughter,” he said without her prompting. “She looks just like you.”

  His voice warmed her like the soft flames in the fireplace, and she nodded, finally finding her voice again. “They sent me the picture today. A letter, too.
They want to meet me next Sunday.”

  His gaze lifted from the photo and settled on her. “Will you?”

  She wasn’t able to contain the smile. “I’ve spent almost six years imagining the worst scenarios, certain I made the wrong decision. When I finally decided to face those fears, this is the gift I got. I don’t want to live in fear anymore.”

  * * *

  Hunter listened to Triss’s words, watched the light in her eyes, glanced at the face of her daughter, and he knew. This photo, the message she’d received from the family, was the first step in healing. It was the break she’d needed to relieve her of the guilt she’d been carrying for years. It meant freedom from the grief that had been following her all this time. But he still wasn’t exactly sure what that meant for him and his kids.

  As she read him the contents of the letter, her hand trembled a little holding the phone, and he reached over and placed his hand under hers to steady her grip. There was no doubt that something had shifted between them, but he needed her to say that explicitly. He would not be the one to push her into a relationship she wasn’t ready for.

  When she finally finished reading, she set her phone in her lap and turned to look at him directly. “Something happened when I saw her face, Hunter,” she said, the look in her eyes honest and full of newfound hope. “And when I read that letter. There’s no other way to explain it except for this feeling of...forgiveness. Forgiveness, and...freedom. All this grief I’ve been holding on to was replaced with relief and the assurance that she’s where she needs to be. I had to show you myself. Tell you myself.”

  He waited, still not hearing what he had been hoping for, but unwilling to fish for what might not be there yet for her.

  But then she shifted to turn more fully to him, her eyes dark with emotion, a shadow of uncertainty passing through her expression.

  “I don’t deserve another chance to make things work with you and your kids, Hunter, but I know I’ll regret not telling you everything.”

  “There’s more?” he asked, his heart sinking as he began to wonder if he’d again allowed himself to be reeled into hoping for something that wasn’t meant to be.

  She nodded, her eyes glimmering, the firelight flickering shadows across her face. It took all his willpower to keep from pulling her into his arms and telling her he didn’t care what else there was, asking her to simply take a chance on a life together, no matter what was in the past.

  But whatever this was, it was obvious that she needed to say it, so he waited.

  And then she reached over and intertwined her hand with his. “I love you.”

  The words, quiet but sure, struck his heart like a swift jolt of electricity, and it took him a second to register their meaning. That was the rest of what she needed to tell him. That was everything. She loved him.

  He looked at their hands together, then up into dark eyes full of a hope he’d never seen in Triss before. He didn’t trust his voice to tell her all that he wanted to say, but he managed a grin and finally said, “You’ve probably guessed that the feeling is mutual, but just in case...” He leaned close, sliding a hand along her nape, drawing her toward him. It was a kiss that promised forever, her palm resting just above his heart, and he didn’t want it to end. But he heard giggling and footsteps approaching the house, knew Samantha and the kids had arrived, and their time was short. He pulled back from the kiss and cupped the side of Triss’s face.

  “I love you, too,” he said, and she smiled as the door flew open and the kids burst into the house, full of laughter as Samantha followed behind.

  Levi launched himself into the living room, smiling broadly under a faint hot-chocolate mustache. “Can we have popcorn now?” he asked, his eyes brighter and more energetic than they should be at such a late hour for a two-year-old.

  “Oh, yeah, I forgot about the popcorn,” Hunter said, pushing himself up a bit reluctantly.

  “I’ll help,” Triss said, following him to the kitchen.

  “Want me to get the kids ready for bed before I head out?” Samantha asked, and Hunter remembered belatedly that she had been planning to go out for a friend’s birthday dinner.

  “No, you go on ahead,” he told her. “I’ve got it from here.”

  She hugged the kids goodbye and headed out, and the kids commenced to turn Christmas music on too loud and dance in singing circles in the living room. While Hunter made popcorn, Triss got bowls out and then insisted that Levi get his face cleaned up. He attempted singing and twirling while she wiped off the sticky hot-cocoa residue, and then he danced into the living room.

  Hunter turned to offer Triss a bowl of popcorn, but hesitated when he caught her watching the kids. For a moment, he wondered if she was having second thoughts. If this was one of those moments she’d told him about—when what should be happy was filled, instead, with sadness.

  “Popcorn?” he asked finally, and she turned to him, amusement in her expression with no hint of the sadness he had imagined.

  “Maybe later,” she said. “What movie?”

  “Frosty the Snowman!” Josie announced.

  “No, Gwinch!” Levi yelled.

  “Frosty!” Josie yelled louder, her smile falling.

  “Gwinch!” Levi yelled back, his voice matching hers in intensity.

  “Oh, boy,” Triss said.

  “You sure you want to sign up for this chaos?” Hunter asked, and even though he was partly joking, he couldn’t help but wonder if she really knew what she was getting into.

  She turned to him, looked him directly in the eyes and said, “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life. Bring on the chaos. I’m ready to live again.”

  She took the bowl of popcorn from him, brushed a quick kiss to his lips and entered the living-room fight.

  “Aren’t both of those movies pretty short?” she asked, and the kids stopped and stared at her.

  “I’m just saying...maybe we could watch both?”

  She sat on the couch and the kids climbed up on either side of her, shoving hands in the popcorn bowl.

  “They’re pretty short, but it’s also pretty late,” Hunter said, regretting being the bearer of bad news. “And we’ll need to drive Triss home afterward.”

  “You’re staying for the movie?” Josie asked, her voice hopeful.

  Triss nodded. “But only if you two stop fighting.”

  “If you’re staying for the movie, I don’t care what we watch,” Josie said softly, and settled in close to Triss, leaning her head against Triss’s arm.

  Hunter smiled, his heart tender at the sight. Levi raced over to the television and expertly yanked out the disc to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Hunter went to the kitchen to flick off the lights for movie night ambience. He settled on the other side of Josie as Levi shoved the disc into the DVD player and brought Hunter the remote. It was dark, the only lights from the flickering fire and the television screen. But, somehow, the house didn’t feel dark at all. For the first time since Vivian’s death, Hunter felt the shadows start to lift, new hope flooding in and drowning out the darkness.

  As the movie began, he glanced over at Triss, flanked by his two children, and he knew, somehow, that they’d both been given the gift of a new beginning.

  * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Intensive Care Crisis by Karen Kirst.

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  Dear Reader,

  In real life, I don’t have much in common with Triss or Hunter, yet their hearts spoke to mine. In the shadows of their lives, I saw the shadows of my own—the weight of heartbreak, fear, regret and loss, and the yearning to fully live and fully love, despite it all. What Triss and Hunter found to be true i
n their pursuit of new beginnings, I’ve also found to be true: we long for a peace that the world can never give us. May you seek and find peace through the power of the Holy Spirit, the gift of His living and breathing Word and the blessing of companionship with loved ones who lift spirits, lighten burdens and offer chocolate.

  Love,

  Sara

  P.S. I love to hear from readers—find me on Facebook @sarakparker.author and on my website: www.sarakparker.com.

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  Intensive Care Crisis

  by Karen Kirst

  ONE

  Jacksonville, North Carolina

  Someone was harming her patients.

  Audrey Harris was determined not to let anything happen to the force-recon marine currently in her care. Not only was Sergeant Julian Tan her neighbor, but he was also in her father’s unit. Fortunately, the recovery room where she worked had only three patients this morning, and they weren’t scheduled to receive more until after lunch.