by Kari Lemor
If he decided to ride off into the sunset without her, she wasn’t sure she could ever piece it together again. This must be how Humpty Dumpty felt. She took a deep breath as they pulled onto her street. This would have to wait until after she dealt with her family. They had to be her priority now.
“This is it, right?” Chris asked as he turned toward the small white two-story where she’d lived her whole life, until Eddie had come along.
“Yeah,” was all she could manage as they stopped in the driveway on the left side of the house. A curtain moved indicating someone had heard the car. She couldn’t put this off any longer.
“You’ll be fine,” he assured her as his hand patted hers. He got out, went to her side of the car and opened her door as her father peered out cautiously. His eyes opened wide then his mouth followed as he watched her get out of the car.
“It’s Maggie. Maggie’s back.” he hollered to whoever was behind him. And soon her mother, all her brothers and her sister, who was very pregnant, rushed out. They all had tears in their eyes as they pulled her in for an enormous group hug. It was going to be okay.
* * * *
Chris tugged the zipper on his coat up a bit higher then shoved his hands in the pockets of his khaki pants as he leaned against the car. A smile came to his lips watching the reunion unfold exactly as he’d predicted. Of course he had the benefit of knowing how often this family had badgered the Bureau to find their missing loved one. And even though he’d informed Meg of this, he didn’t think she truly believed him.
She did now.
Happy tears rolled down her cheeks and moisture gathered in his own. He checked to make sure no one saw but noticed there wasn’t a dry eye in the bunch. Even Meg’s three brothers, all of whom were quite large and tough, had tears in their eyes as they hugged their sister and took turns holding her close.
She continued to sob. “I’m so sorry I hurt everyone. I never meant to. I’m so sorry.”
All voices assured her that it didn’t matter. She was home now
“Oh, it’s chilly out here,” the woman he assumed was Meg’s mother noted as her arm linked with her daughter’s. “Let’s get inside where it’s warm.”
The group of them moved toward the house hustling her along between them. Hollow and empty, Chris swallowed hard. She hadn’t even said goodbye, although she’d hardly had a second to breathe since they surrounded her. Not her fault. This was what she’d wanted, needed, and she was finally here. He would simply be a reminder of the horrible life she’d left behind.
When he pushed off the car to go back to the driver’s side, Meg’s father stopped and looked at him curiously. Her dad pulled Meg close and nodded in his direction.
Her gaze grew horrified. She must have realized she’d ignored him. Slipping free from all the tangled arms trying to hold her, she smiled as she grabbed his hands.
“Come on,” she whispered her eyes sparkling with joy and tears. The hole inside him began to fill back up. She pulled him along behind her and started introductions.
“This is my dad, John O’Hara. My mom, Claire. This is my sister Liz and…” she patted her sister’s enlarged abdomen then squealed, “I’m going to be an auntie. That’s her husband, Dan, hiding up on the porch. And these are my brothers, Ty, Kevin, and Quinn. Everyone, this is Christopher Shaunessy, my hero.”
“Shaunessy?” John O’Hara squinted in familiarity with the name. “You’re the FBI agent who called here a few months ago letting us know Maggie was okay.”
“You called them?” Her eyes glowed with gratitude.
Nodding his head, he shrugged. “Yeah, I didn’t tell them much but I thought they had the right to know you were alive and safe. I said you were helping us with something and at some point you’d be home.”
John stuck out his hand and gave a gruff, “Thanks, Shaunessy. We appreciate that you did. We still wanted Maggie back but at least we weren’t wondering anymore if she was even alive. You gave us peace of mind and for that we’re grateful.”
Meg’s mother linked her arm through Chris’s, insisting, “You must come and have Thanksgiving dinner with us. Now we have even more to be thankful for.”
Heads nodded all around as the crowd entered the house and he found himself sitting at a huge dining room table set out with a feast fit for a king. Another place setting was added, a chair pulled up and soon food was being passed around as voices rang with laughter, questions, and general talk. He was pulled into the conversations and found he liked the O’Hara family. They were genuine, warm, and caring, like Meg.
He laughed as her brothers began teasing her and he soon knew exactly why she had such a sarcastic sense of humor. She’d need it to survive in this family. And she seemed to slide right back in to where she’d been before. Not that he’d known her before, but this was familiar territory for her, he could tell.
A few hours later, he watched from the kitchen as Meg sat with her hands on her sister’s belly feeling the baby move. He should leave soon. She needed to be with her family. But goodbyes totally sucked.
“Thanks for bringing my little girl back home to us,” John said gruffly from behind him. The man cleared his throat and blinked his eyes a few times trying to contain his emotions. But finding your lost daughter after being gone for two years was certainly more than enough reason to get emotional.
Chris’s jaw hardened. “She didn’t deserve what happened to her.” They had gotten much of the story throughout the afternoon though she’d left out a lot of the nastier details in order to save her family some of the horror.
“I think you went a little over and above the call of duty on this one. Any particular reason?”
He stared across the room his gaze never leaving Meg’s beautiful features.
John cleared his throat. “Does she know how you feel?”
He tried for an innocent expression as he replied, “What do you mean?”
John smirked. “A blind man could see how much you care. It’s the way you look at her.”
Averting his eyes he gave a sheepish grin.
John smiled too. “Can you let us have a little bit of time with her before you go whisking her away again?”
“Not sure she wants to be whisked away by me,” he added trying to keep the longing from his voice.
Meg looked up and glanced over. Her eyes caught his and he almost stopped breathing. The emotion pouring from her was apparent and caught him by surprise. It couldn’t have been clearer if it had come with a sign. Love. The emotion shining from her eyes was love. And she was looking straight at him, there was no doubt. She gave a shy smile when she realized her dad was staring at her too then looked back down to continue her conversation with her mother and sister.
“She can look at you like that and you’re still not sure?” John snorted. “Like I said, just give us a little time with her. That’s all I’m asking.”
He cleared his throat trying not to sound too choked up. “Sure, I can give you a little bit of time.”
* * * *
“Meg, Chris is here,” Ty bellowed and got a dirty look from Liz who was trying to rock the baby to sleep.
Meg skipped down the stairs, placed a kiss on her two-week-old niece’s head then ran to the door. It had been about a month since she’d returned home and she couldn’t have been happier. Not only had her family opened their arms to warmly welcome her back, no one thought any less of her for deserting them to begin with. And once they’d heard why she hadn’t returned they were horrified for what she’d been through but proud that she hadn’t wanted to bring any harm to her family.
Surprisingly, Chris had driven up from Baltimore twice and spent time with her and her family. She was getting a little frustrated though. Aside from a few chaste kisses they hadn’t been able to be alone together. Her brothers had been overly cautious and extra protective these days, especially when it came to men. They knew her track record wasn’t a good one and hated to see her
repeat it. But the way Chris acted, like he wanted to ease himself out of her life, they probably didn’t need to worry.
It was time for a serious conversation but she was almost afraid to have it. Was he only coming by to make sure she was okay after all that had happened? Those white knight tendencies ran strong in him. Soon she’d have to ask so she didn’t keep getting her hopes up.
Sliding her feet into boots, she ran out, sloshing through the snow to meet him at his SUV. He was coming from the back and carried a large stack of presents.
“Who are all those for?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“Your family,” he answered then handed her a few of them before he dug in the back for more.
“Hey, wait,” she scowled at him. “Don’t I even get a hello? Or a Merry Christmas?”
Straightening, he turned to slide his hand in her hair. He pressed his lips to hers causing her eyes to close and the tingling to start again. She hoped that never got old, the way her body reacted to his touch. He nipped at her bottom lip then kissed her nose and scolded, “Now get in the house before you freeze to death. You don’t have a coat on.”
She stuck her tongue out at him and turned on her heel as he grabbed another stack of gifts. Heading into the house she unloaded the presents into her brother’s arms. Chris took off his coat and Meg moved to the closet to hang it up, slipping off her boots as well. Moving up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Merry Christmas, sweetie,” he breathed in her ear causing shivers to run down her spine.
She turned in his embrace sliding her arms around his shoulders. “Merry Christmas, muffin.”
After taking a peek around, he pressed his lips to hers. She ran her fingers through his thick locks holding him tight as she kissed him back. Was he playing with her or was he serious?
“Do you think anyone would notice if we snuck inside this closet for a few minutes?” she flirted, attempting to back up and do what she’d suggested.
He kissed her again. “What I’d like to do with you would take more than a few minutes,” he whispered in her ear. “And a closet is hardly the ideal place for it, though it could be interesting.”
Meg rolled her eyes noticing both Ty and Kevin had entered the kitchen looking their way, arms crossed over their broad chests. All of her brothers took after their dad in their large physique and build. Chris was no slouch when it came to muscles either. She remembered running her hands over them during their time undercover and wished she could do so again. No such luck. Not right now anyway. She reluctantly moved away and pulled him toward the living room.
About an hour later her mother shooed everyone out of the kitchen so she could actually get something done and people scattered. Chris grabbed Meg’s hand pulling her toward the coat closet, instructing her to get geared up.
“What are we doing?”
His smile was smug. “We got a foot of snow yesterday. What do you think we need to do? We’re going to build a snowman.”
Her eyebrow rose cynically. “You want to build a snowman. You, the big, strong, macho FBI agent wants to build a snowman?”
He lowered his face close to hers. “Yeah, I do. You got a problem with that?”
When she laughed, he grabbed his coat, hat, and gloves heading outside. She made quick work of getting her gear on, then followed behind. Chris had already started rolling the big ball for the bottom. He pointed to another part of the yard and ordered, “Start rolling the middle and we can add them together.”
She shook her head but did as instructed and soon they had three balls stacked on top of each other. Chris took some things from her mom to add to the snowman. A scarf was wrapped around his neck and he’d found some rocks for a mouth. He sent her off to look for a few long sticks to make arms and when she came back there was a carrot sticking out of the top sphere.
“So, this snowman was just thinking he should help you find a job.” Chris stroked his chin as he looked at the white figure.
“He was, huh?” She grinned. “I need all the help I can get. There aren’t many teaching jobs available in the middle of the school year. What does he plan on doing to help me?”
He looked thoughtfully again as if the snowman was actually speaking to him. “He says you should look down in Maryland, maybe outside of Baltimore.”
Meg’s heart raced at his suggestion, wondering exactly what he was implying.
“Why should I do that?” she asked softly taking a step closer to the man she loved, hoping he had similar feelings for her.
A mischievous glint gleamed in his eye and he cocked his head in the direction of the snowy man. “You should ask him. He seems like an intelligent guy. Just look at that strong nose and proud chin.”
“What are you talking about?” she scoffed. “He doesn’t have a chin and his nose is a skinny little carrot that has a wart on it.”
Looking closer at what she thought was a bump on the carrot, her gaze flew to the mischievous eyes next to her. The carrot didn’t have a bump, it had a ring dangling from it. A ring with a huge diamond attached.
Chris reached for the ring pulling her closer. “I kind of got used to having you around and found that I liked it. I’ve been miserable without you, Meg. I was hoping I could convince you to marry me, be my wife.”
Her breath froze in her chest. It had nothing to do with the temperature though. “What happened to the idea of a solitary life? You were afraid of hurting someone.”
“All the times I kept telling you your family would forgive you because they loved you … I guess I finally heard the message myself. If you love someone enough, you forgive them for being stupid. Will you forgive me for being stupid and not realizing sooner that I needed you in my life? Will you marry me and keep me from being stupid?”
She wanted to shout yes. To agree with all her heart. A tiny niggle of doubt entered as she remembered their meeting. “How often do you go undercover? Will I be by myself all that time while you make out with informants and gamble all night?”
The face he made had her heart beating faster. “You’re the first informant I’ve ever made out with. I expect you’ll be the last. That assignment was a plum, but they don’t come along too often. And they’re never given to married agents. Plus, Phil said once I find a good woman to cook for me, I’d get fat and wouldn’t get the assignments like that anymore.”
He pulled her closer. “Would you bake me cakes like your mom taught you. Marry me and feed me and be with me forever?”
She looked with disbelief at his green eyes filled with fear and uncertainty, and her own filled with tears. His eyes widened. She quickly nodded her head, crying, “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
In less than a second Meg was crushed in his strong arms and kissed passionately. When they finally came up for air he looked lovingly at her and confessed, “I love you so much, Meg. I don’t know how you did it, but you wormed your way inside my heart and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Sure there is,” she said impishly. “You can just keep loving me as much as I love you.” She pulled off her left mitten and held out her hand. “Now let’s see how you did with the size.”
She watched in awe as Chris slipped the diamond-encrusted band onto her finger. It fit perfectly. She looked up impressed. “How did you know my ring size? Don’t tell me, you did an undercover assignment as a jeweler once.”
He looked chagrined. “No, actually your sister told me.”
“My sister,” she cried. “You asked my sister for my ring size? She knew about this before me?”
“No, she casually mentioned it the last time I was here. But I think your family all knows now. You aren’t very quiet.”
She turned to see what he was looking at. Her entire family stood in the picture window smiling out at the couple with their arms around each other. She rolled her eyes, sticking out her hand to flash her ring in their direction, then twisted in Chris’s embrace to pull him close
r.
“Well, if they want a show, we might as well give them one.”
“Can’t argue with you there,” he muttered lowering his mouth toward hers.
Meg grinned. “Why would you, when you know I’m always right?”
The End
Don’t miss the next book in Kari Lemor’s Love on the Line series
Running Target
An innocent in the crossfire . . .
FBI agent Jack Holland broke every rule in the book falling for the girlfriend Angelo Cabrini, son of a New Jersey mob boss. But even if Callie Lansing’s relationship to Angelo was actually a cover and her heart was free, her relationship with Jack put both of their lives at risk. Nothing, though, could make Jack regret the liaison that led to the birth of their son, Jonathan.
After Angelo discovered Callie’s pregnancy, he went after Jack and wound up dead. Now Jack is on the run with a target on his back. The only thing keeping Callie and Jonathan safe is the mob boss's belief that the baby is his grandchild. But if Victor Cabrini discovers the truth before Jack can put him behind bars, it could mean death for his sweet covert family. . . .
Click here to get your copy.
Meet the Author
Kari Lemor was one of those children who read with a flashlight under the covers. Once she discovered her mom’s stash of romance novels, there was no other genre to even consider. For years, she had stories stewing in her mind, stories of love and happily ever after. But writing wasn’t something she ever liked in school. Of course, no one ever asked her to write a story about a couple falling in love. Now that her children are grown, she can concentrate on penning tales of dashing heroes who ride to the rescue and feisty heroines who have already saved themselves. Please visit her at karilemor.com and on Twitter and Facebook.
Click here to get all the latest news from Kari Lemor!