Andee just stared at them. “I don’t understand.”
Mac backed them away from the door. “Your mother flew up this morning. Got here about an hour ago. And after seeing you were okay, she went right in to him. Maybe things will turn out differently this time.”
Andee wanted to wiggle out of his arms, to demand answers, but the sight of her father running his hand through her mother’s hair, the look on his face, well, she couldn’t interrupt. Not now.
“There’s something you should know about your father, Andee. Gerard McLeod is a legend at the bureau. Once upon a time, he ran the Fairbanks Drug Team. He took down a particularly notorious and well-connected group of drug runners with particularly vengeful relatives. I did the math, and I have to wonder if your father didn’t send you away right at the time the Rubinovs’ extended relatives were tracking down the families of those agents on the team.”
Moisture brushed Andee’s eyes.
Mac reached up and thumbed away an escaping tear. “Just thought that might be food for thought.”
She nodded, glancing back at her parents. Together.
Mac carried her down the hall to an atrium that faced north toward the Brooks Range, barely outlined by the sinking sun. He held her tight, making no move to put her down as they stared at the view, the mountains turning purple, the sky streaked with red.
“We never made it to Disaster,” Andee said quietly.
Mac chuckled. “Oh, I think we did. And we survived it.”
Andee looked up at him, ran her fingers through his stubbly beard, losing herself in his eyes. “I’m falling in love with you, you know.”
“Aye,” he said and bent his head and kissed her gently, perfectly. Hinting at her future or their future. He tasted of sweet coffee and of all the magical stories she’d tucked away of heroes and lords and knights in shining armor.
She hated it when he pulled away.
He rested his forehead on hers and sighed. “I did it again. Kissed you without asking.”
She smiled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
He closed his eyes, pulled her close, and whispered in her ear:
“Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.”
“FBI, you’re such a poet,” Andee said in a lazy, teasing voice.
He smiled, letting her see everything in his heart. “Only for you, my bonnie lass. Only for you.”
A Note from the Author
"MOMMY, IF YOU could live your life over, would you make the same choices?"
When my son asked me this question the other night, it made mc ponder. Would I? Yes, for the most part. There are probably a few I wouldn't make again. Like that perm gone wild or the boyfriend with the bad breath. But really, our choices make us the people we are, and without one choice pushing me to the next, I probably wouldn't be where I am today.
Not that life has been easy. Or that I've always made the right decisions. Over the last two years, we've had big changes—in career, in lifestyle, in location. And we haven't always made the best decisions. (Case in point—the day I decided to clean out my basement and ended up accidentally burning down the garage!) But through this journey, I've discovered that in every event, every disappointment, ever)'joy, ever)' struggle, God is there. And that is a treasure I wouldn't have found if ever)' decision had been wise or easy or right.
I often hear people say, when confronted with a crisis, "God doesn't give me more than I can bear." I couldn't disagree more. I've been in a number of I-can't-bear-this! situations, and over and over I see that it's when I'm swamped and going down fast, I have no choice but to turn to God. He parts the waves, readies down, and snatches me from death.
Sorla like what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:9-10: "In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we slopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us."
Many times Paul must have thought, This is it. I'm done for. And vet he trusted in God, and God saved him.
As I journey through this life, making decisions, trusting God for guidance, I have two choices. I can look behind me and say, "Why did I do thatr" Or I can look forward, toward heaven and God's smile, and say, "I trust You for this step and that You'll catch me if I fall."
Thank you for reading Mac and Andee's story. I pray that their journey encouraged your own and that God uses it to remind you that blessed is the person whose hope is in the Lord their God.
In His grace,
About the Author
Susan May Warren recently returned home after serving for eight years with her husband and four children as missionaries in Khabarovsk, Far Hast Russia. Now writing full-time as her husband runs a hotel on Lake Superior in northern Minnesota, she and her family enjoy hiking and canoeing and being involved in their local church.
Susan holds a BA in mass communications from the University of Minnesota and is a multipublished author of novellas and novels with Tyndale, including Happily Ever After, the American Christian Romance Writers' 2003 Book of the Year and a 2003 Christy Award finalist. Other books in that series include Tying the Knot and The Perfect Match, the 2004 American Christian Fiction Writers' Book of the Year. Expect the Sunrise is the sequel to Flee the Night and Escape to Morning and her third book in this romantic adventure search-and-rescue series with Tyndale.
Susan invites you to visit her Web site at www.susanmaywarren.com. She also welcomes letters by e-mail at [email protected].
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