Her Only Hero
Page 19
He crossed the space between them and took both her hands in his. The warmth of his touch robbed her of whatever breath she had left.
“I have to tell you this.” His voice roughened and deepened on the words. “I saw pain in your eyes when you looked at me yesterday. It made me realize nothing was worth that—certainly not my job. It pushed me to do something I didn’t think I had in me to do.”
She couldn’t have spoken if her life depended on it. She could only look at him, knowing he must be able to read her love for him.
“Thanks to you, I found out I didn’t have to rely on sheer recklessness to rescue someone.” He reached up to brush a strand of hair back from her face, and his fingers trembled against her skin. “When you called last night—when I saw you trapped and alone—” His voice broke.
She couldn’t move. She couldn’t speak. Seeing him let down all his defenses was enough to rip her heart open.
“Laura, I love you. I think I’ve loved you since the moment you came back into my life. I’m ready to stop running. I’ve found all I want in you and Mandy. Please tell me it’s not too late.”
She waited for all her doubts and her defensiveness to surface, keeping her from happiness. It didn’t happen. She was free of them. Being right with God had made everything else in her life line up as well.
She reached up to stroke his cheek, loving the tenderness that shone in his eyes. “I was trapped by more than that beam until you came. Now—” The joy seemed to bubble up inside her. “Now I’m ready to share my life. I love you, Ryan Flanagan. Don’t you dare walk out of my life again.”
The joy dawned on Ryan’s face. He drew her against him, his arms folding her close. “Never,” he breathed against her hair. “Never.”
Epilogue
Mandy sat on the high table in Dr. Phillips’s office. Laura stood next to her, trying to keep any hint of apprehension from her face as they waited for the doctor to activate Mandy’s implant. Ryan’s hand pressed down on her shoulder, reassuring her, and she turned her head to smile at him.
The past month had gone by so swiftly it was hard to believe that so much in their lives had changed. Thanks to the quick work Ryan had ensured from the contractor, the building had been ready to show. The buyer had loved it and they’d closed quickly, enabling her to pay off the implant and have money left for a new start.
It was a start they’d made right here in Suffolk. Ryan would never want to move away from his family, and now that they were becoming her family and Mandy’s family, she wouldn’t part with them either.
Mandy touched her hand. I love you, Mommy.
“I love you, too, Mandy. I loved you before you were born, and I will always love you, whether you can hear or not.” The words had become a ritual between them as they’d waited out the results of the implant.
“What about me?” Ryan signed. “You love me, don’t you?”
Mandy’s face crinkled in a smile. I love you, too. And baby Siobhan, and Grammy, and Grandpa, and my cousins and my puppy.
“At least I’m at the head of that list,” he said, and dropped a kiss on her head.
Dr. Phillips stopped tinkering with the receiver. “I think we’re ready,” he said. “Let’s give it a try.” He switched it on and nodded at Laura.
“Mandy,” she said, hardly daring to breathe.
Mandy’s head jerked up instantly, her eyes wide with shock. Then a smile blossomed on her face, and she nodded.
Ryan’s arms went around her, and his cheek was wet as he pressed it against hers. “She can hear. Our little girl can hear.”
Thank You, Father. Her heart seemed to overflow with joy. Thank You.
Dear Reader,
I’m so glad you decided to pick up this book, and I hope my story touches your heart. The Flanagan firefighter series is very dear to me, and I hope you enjoy reading these books as much as I enjoyed writing them.
Ryan, the youngest of the Flanagan brothers, was quite a challenge to write about. A charmer like Ryan needed a very determined woman to show him that his future included marriage and family, and I found her in Laura, who had her own difficulties to face. I loved researching and writing about Laura’s renovation project—maybe that’s so appealing because it echoes our need to be made over in Christ’s image.
I hope you’ll write and let me know how you liked this story. Address your letter to me at Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, Ste. 1001, New York, NY 10279, and I’ll be happy to send you a signed bookplate or bookmark. You can visit me on the Web at www.martaperry.com or e-mail me at marta@martaperry.com.
Blessings,
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0353-2
HER ONLY HERO
Copyright © 2005 by Martha Johnson
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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*Hometown Heroes
†Caldwell Kin
**The Flanagans