Mercy's Rescue - Will he be the anchor this angel of mercy needs to bring her feet to the ground? (Bling! Romance)
Page 19
He took a deep breath and slowly shook his head before giving her a level look. “You do want your pound of flesh, don’t you? Everything changed when I met you, Mercy. I won’t repeat what I have said to you a few times before as I know it upsets you. You know my feelings.” He changed the subject. “I don’t need to keep you out here in the parking lot. I know your mom will be happy to see you inside. Bye, Mercy.”
“Bye, Josh.”
They parted, and each went in opposite directions. The poignancy of that fact wasn’t lost on Mercy. Her heart pulled in his direction, and it took quite a lot of willpower not to turn and go that way. He still cared for her. Was there a chance? Did she dare hope?
Mercy walked up the steps of the red brick church and stepped inside. The familiar smell of furniture polish on the pews and soft organ music from the loft welcomed her, awakening memories of countless other Sundays throughout her life. Slipping quietly into a vacant seat at the end of one of the pews, she smiled at the woman who looked at her in wide-eyed surprise.
“Hope this seat wasn’t saved,” Mercy spoke in a lowered voice.
“Yes, it is.” Her mother responded with a slight sheen of emotion in her eyes. “It’s always saved for you. We knew you’d come one day.”
“We? How did you know?”
Her mother’s head nodded toward the front of the church, to the figure etched in the stained glass. “Faith in Him. I knew He would lead you home again.”
Mercy’s hand cradled itself into the one reaching for hers. Her heart no longer felt hollow. It felt full—so much so, she could only utter one word.
“Home.”
“Should have known things were too quiet today,” Paul said as she joined him inside the craft on Tuesday morning. They buckled in and checked their radios. “Although this should be an easy run for us.”
This time, they headed to another hospital a couple hundred miles from them to transport a noncritical patient to another location. There would be no need for life-saving measures or having to beat the imaginary clock. It surprised Mercy that they’d drawn the assignment, but it gave her time to reflect on the decisions she prepared to make in her life. She’d spent a good deal of time searching her heart since Sunday. The decisions had come with surprising clarity once she turned them over to God. Her days of flying to the rescue were about to end. She had applied for and been chosen for a new position on the ground … in Lawson. She would move into her old home.
Home. It was time to go home, in many ways. The next day was her day off, and she would drive to Lawson. Uncertain how or where, she would find Josh and tell him what was in her heart. She would hold on to the faith and hope she had that he would give her a chance—give them a chance. Hopefully, she hadn’t succeeded in pushing him away for good.
“That was easy.” The pilot smiled at her as she finished the patient transfer, climbed onboard, and secured the door. She tossed him a thumbs-up. There was something to be said for things dialing down a bit. They had moved the patient from the smaller hospital to the larger one, with minimum stress, and could head back now to their home base. Twenty minutes into the flight, she noticed a smug little smile on Paul’s face as he kept glancing her way and then back toward Mitch.
“Okay. What’s the joke? You two are up to something. What gives?” Mercy asked over the headset.
Paul’s smile broke into a grin. “No joke. Just thinking what a nice afternoon it is. The air is so clear, and you can see a lot down below us.”
She gave him a quizzical half-smile. He could be so weird at times.
“I said, you can really see the ground today. Don’t you think so?” He looked over to her with a determined gleam in his eyes.
What was his problem? She would go along. Mercy threw a glance out of the window beside her. “Yes, it’s clear and—” The words hung in midsentence.
What? Was that her name?
Mercy moved closer to the window. Her visor went up, and the helmet followed shortly after. The helicopter turned in a slow arc around an unplowed cornfield below. Instead of the usual corn maze people often used as entertainment in the area after the corn had been harvested, the field was cut into a simple three-word message:
MARRY ME, MERCY
Mercy blinked several times as they hovered lower. Were her mind and heart playing tricks on her? Her eyes caught sight of the SUV parked to the side of the field and the familiar figure standing in front of it.
Josh. She would recognize that tall stance at any distance. Her heart leaped so hard and fast she felt sure it might jump right out of her chest. He stood below them, waiting for her. He hadn’t given up on her! She wanted to laugh, cry, scream—everything at once. Josh was below them, and he had just proposed to her … again. Prayers had been answered. Faith had been kept and rewarded. She had been given one more chance to get it right—to get back to living.
“Well, do we land or not? Can we put the poor guy out of his misery?” Paul laughed, making his voice heard above the noise of the rotors.
Mercy threw him a glance and realized he looked a bit blurry through the tears tracking down her cheeks. She couldn’t trust herself to speak, so she just quickly nodded her head.
“The lady says yes. Take her down, Mitch,” Paul said, relaying the decision to the pilot via his headset.
The craft touched the ground, and Mercy threw off her final restraint and unlatched the door. She rushed outside in a flash.
The rotors slowed, still kicking up plenty of wind. Mercy didn’t notice, intent on covering the distance between herself and the man who now moved toward her in long, determined strides. Mercy wiped the tears from her cheeks with a backward swipe of one hand. As the distance lessened, her footsteps slowed. They came to stand within a few feet of each other, eyes locked on each other, neither speaking.
Thankfully, Josh spoke first, not wasting words. “I fell in love with an angel in the sky. I wanted to clip your wings and keep you safe with me on the ground. I was wrong, and I lost you. Forgive me and save me once again. Will you marry me?”
The look in Josh’s eyes went deep into her soul, along with the words she had prayed to hear once more. She knew she would never forget this until the day she died. His words brought more tears.
“You weren’t wrong. And you saved me, too. I was selfish because I was afraid of taking another chance and having my heart broken again. But by not taking that chance, my heart broke anyway. I don’t want to fly away anymore. In fact, I’ve already resigned from air evac. I’m taking a position at Lawson Memorial’s new ICU that opens next month. I’ll be their charge nurse. I realized that I just wanted to stay on the ground … with you.”
Mercy felt herself lifted off the ground by two strong arms. Her gasp of happy surprise ended as his lips claimed hers in a kiss that seared into her very soul and sealed their future. She wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him with all her might. Unimaginable joy filled her heart.
His mouth left hers after several moments and moved to kiss away the tears at the corners of her eyes. He set her down, lifted his head, and captured her face between his palms. Pure love shone through his gaze, and his smile cloaked her in marvelous warmth.
“Oh! I almost forgot what comes next.” His arms left her, and he dug around inside his jacket pockets, eventually coming up with a small blue box. He sank down on one knee. “I want to get this right.”
Mercy’s heart caught in her throat. Moisture threatened to cloud her vision again.
Don’t let this be a dream, please!
“Mercy Ann Smith, you are the love I have waited for all my life. Will you marry me and spend the rest of your life with me?”
“Yes, yes! A thousand times, yes! You’re my heart for always.”
The beautiful square-cut solitaire slid onto her finger as if it had always been meant for her. He rose to his feet and sealed the deal with another heart-stopping, earth-shaking kiss. He allowed her to catch her breath after a few minutes.
“How in the world did you manage all this?”
“When you’re in my line of work, you earn favors. And with your mom and Larry and some others involved—” He nodded briefly to the two men enjoying the scene from the chopper. “—I knew I wasn’t giving up without a fight. I also felt after we spoke on Sunday, maybe you cared more than you wanted to admit, and maybe there might be a chance after all. I took a leap of faith, and I was determined to get your attention.”
“You certainly did that.”
His voice softened. “You truly don’t want to fly?”
She slowly shook her head. “No. Just like you said—what I thought I wanted and would never give up? Somehow it changed when I least expected it. I want to stay on the ground. I can still do what I love and help people. I want you to know that even if you wanted to stay a sheriff, I would love you no matter what. Each day, I’ll place my faith in us … and in God.”
“Faith and love. Pretty powerful combination to have on our side,” he replied with a broad grin. “But, yes, I’m positive about taking the judgeship. Besides, I plan to be busy being a husband and a dad. Being a judge gives me more time to do that.”
“A husband and a dad,” Mercy repeated the words, while an amazing burst of happiness lit her face and filled her with a profound sense of being wholly blessed.
“You agree with my plan?”
“Oh, I totally agree.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s where my heart wants to be—with you. No matter what life brings our way, our love is what matters. I have faith in it, and in us. I may have rescued you a long time ago, but you turned around and rescued my heart right back.”
Mercy waved goodbye to Paul and Mitch, choosing to ride back to the hospital on the ground, beside her brand new fiancé. She slipped her hand into that of the man beside her, confident in what lay ahead. Life waited for them and, no matter what happened in the years to come, they would face it together, secure in their love for each other and in an abiding faith that would light their way.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication/Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen