To Honor and To Protect

by Debra Webb

  “It’s not that.”

  “No?” He sounded surprised “Then what?”

  “Just about everything else,” she admitted. “But it can wait until we know Craig is in custody and we get you patched up.”

  Drew nodded, his lips pressed into a thin line.

  “Are you hurting?”

  He shook his head. “Let’s drive by the warehouse.”

  “Okay.” She knew he wouldn’t put them in danger, and this time they had the advantage of loaded guns. “I still think we should’ve used one of the phones.”

  “We can’t risk tipping off Everett’s contact and giving whoever the hell it is another head start.”

  “It’s hard to fathom any one person having this kind of reach.”

  “You took extreme measures when you fled.”

  “I did.” And Drew had found her anyway. She glanced into the backseat, pleased to see Andy gazing out the window. Bless his heart. She didn’t want all this to haunt his dreams. He was just a little boy.

  Sirens blared in the oncoming lanes, and law enforcement vehicles sped their way before veering toward the warehouse Craig had been hiding in.

  “I hope they’re on our side,” she said, goose bumps raising the hair on her arms. If Craig managed to escape again, she might never be free.

  “Let’s stop here,” Drew said.

  Addison pulled to a halt behind the perimeter created by men in various law enforcement uniforms.

  “Open your door slowly,” he instructed Addison. “Andy, stay right where you are.”

  “Yes, sir,” her little brave boy affirmed.

  “Oh!” She pointed through the windshield. “There’s Craig.” Her breath caught in her chest. “In handcuffs.” She hoped it wasn’t just for show.

  “Consider him locked down for good,” Drew said. A satisfied smile tilted his lips.

  “How can you be sure?”

  “Because the man next to him is Thomas Casey. The guy who recruited me to find you.”

  She wanted to believe, to share Drew’s confidence. “You sound sure of him.”

  “There’s only one other person I trust as much.” His eyes darted to the rearview mirror. “Well, two.”

  Addison looked at him, but Andy asked the question she couldn’t find her voice to pose. “You mean you trust him like you trust us?”

  He nodded, holding Addison’s gaze. “I do.”

  This wasn’t the time for tears, but she’d pined all of Andy’s young life to hear those two words from Drew.

  He reached across the seat and brushed away the tear that rolled down her cheek. “Don’t worry,” he said softly, somehow understanding her fears. “We’ll figure everything out.”

  She nodded, her throat clogged with her heart and all her churning emotions. Hope and love were easy to identify, but they were shadowed by uncertainty. She knew what she wanted, but would Drew want that, too?

  The man Drew pointed out turned their way, striding through the chaos to meet them. “Come on,” Drew said. “I’ll introduce you and then you’ll understand why I’m so confident this is the last you’ll see of Everett.”

  “All right,” she managed, wanting to believe him. As Drew made introductions, Addison studied Director Casey. There was a hard edge under the business-casual polish, but his sincerity as he addressed her son won her over.

  “Do you have enough information now?” she asked abruptly, unable to tolerate any more small talk.

  “I might have a few more questions, but thanks to both of you, the trap my deputy set worked perfectly. We have Everett as well as his contact inside the Department of State.”

  Addison sucked in a breath and looked at Drew, thinking of the implications. “That is a long reach.” Department of State personnel were typically informed of military operations around the globe. An insider leak like that might even have led to Drew’s capture.

  “Well, it’s cut short now. I anticipate closure on several questionable situations as we investigate.”

  She shivered, thinking of how terrible it would’ve been if she’d exchanged vows with Craig. “He wasn’t like that when we met.” Her gaze drifted toward the warehouse, confirming that Craig remained in cuffs and was surrounded by hard men in black tactical gear. “I don’t know when or what made him change.”

  “Thank you for doing the right thing,” Casey said. Turning to Drew, he added, “We have a team searching the bayous for you.” He reached for the radio clipped to his belt. “I need to call them back.”

  “Actually,” Drew said, “they should probably pick up Everett’s team.”

  “They were gonna feed us to the gators.” Andy’s voice held more pride than fear. “But Drew stopped them and then we sank their car.”

  Addison bit her lip, letting the conversation play out. Her son had earned a few bragging rights after everything they’d survived.

  “You look a little wet. Did you fall in?”

  “Drew threw me into the swamp so I wasn’t in danger.”

  “I see.” Casey arched an eyebrow at Drew. “I’m glad they didn’t hurt any of you.”

  Addison’s mind flashed to Drew being tortured with a battery, beaten and shot. She opened her mouth, but Drew put his arm around her. “We all came through.”

  “We did,” Andy agreed. “Mom and Dad—I mean Drew—attacked the bad guys just like Captain America.” He tipped his face to Drew. “Without the shield. I watched it all from a tree. But then I helped sink the car.”

  Addison lost the rest of the conversation. Andy had called Drew Dad. In her heart the moment felt as big as when he’d taken his first steps or the first time he’d called her Mama. She slid a look at Drew, but his impassive expression gave her no hint to his feelings. He must’ve heard it. Would it change anything?

  “I might just need a statement from you, young man,” Casey was saying.

  Andy’s eyes went wide. “From me?”

  “You think you can describe the people you saw?”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “If it’s okay with your mom, we’ll step over here and you can tell me everything.”

  Andy looked up at her hopefully.

  “Go on,” she said. Apparently Casey’s instincts were accurate and he’d noticed she and Drew needed a moment to themselves.

  “You were hurt,” she began. “Shot and—” she had to swallow “—tortured again. Because of me.” The tremor started in her hands as her calm facade cracked apart.

  Drew caught her hands and pressed them between his. “You didn’t cause any of this. Everett did and he’ll pay the penalty.”

  She leaned close, dropping her forehead to his shoulder, breathing in his warm scent. She could be strong and still be allowed her weak moments. It had always been that way with him. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For all of it.” She forced herself to look up, to meet his warm brown gaze. “I couldn’t have saved Andy without you.”

  “You’d have found a way.” His big hands smoothed across her shoulders and down her spine, as if he might simply erase the tension built up there. How could a touch calm and soothe in one moment and ignite a whole new kind of delicious energy in the next? It was just one more of Drew’s many talents.

  “How long before you head back to San Francisco?”

  “I have a few calls to make.” First to Professor Hastings and then to her boss to resign. After that, it would be reaching out to Bernadette and Nico’s family. Taking a step back, afraid of being hurt by Drew’s reaction, she took a big breath and blurted out her decision. “I’m not going back to California. I’ve decided to stay out here. Andy and I need...” You, she thought, but she wouldn’t put that kind of pressure on him. “We need a change of pace. I have enough cushion built up until I find work that suits me in this area.”

  He reached out, winding a curl of her hair around his finger. He’d done that the night they’d met. “You’re moving back to the family farm?”

  She
nodded. “I think Andy will like it out there and any adventures we have will be a thousand times safer.”

  “It must be pretty run-down.”

  “No.” His face fell and she wished she’d kept the truth to herself, if only so he’d be enticed to help her make a few repairs. “There’s a realty service that’s kept it up for me.”

  “Surprised Everett didn’t know about it.”

  She’d never told Craig much about her past. It hadn’t felt relevant then, but now she understood it had been a way of keeping Drew’s memory safe and treasured. He’d been the gold standard no other man could measure up to.

  She was being an idiot here. They both were. “You could come with us. Give yourself a chance to heal up before you head back to whatever is waiting for you in Detroit.”

  “Is that what you want?”

  “Which part?” She wanted the dream that had been snatched from her so many years ago. She wanted family dinners, picnics and baseball games. She wanted movie nights, stargazing and all the joys that came with sharing life’s ups and downs with her soul mate. If he wanted that, too.

  The words tangled in her throat, so much to say that she didn’t know where to start. She pressed up on her toes, her hands clutching his shoulders for balance as she kissed him, letting him feel everything she wanted.

  “I want you to be happy, Drew,” she said, breaking the kiss. “This time your happiness has to come first.”

  * * *

  HIS HANDS RESTED lightly at her trim waist. Happy? Did he dare take what he thought she was offering? “The day I met you I understood what being happy felt like. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true.”

  She pressed her lips together, her pale blue eyes bright. After everything he thought he knew about her, with all the desperate hope crashing through him, he didn’t trust himself to read her reactions correctly. Nothing for it but to barrel on. If he held back now, he’d never shake free of the regret. “I never stopped loving you, Addi. Loving you got me through the darkest days of my life. Give me another chance. Give us another chance to have what we once dreamed of. Please.”

  Her gaze drifted over to where Casey and Andy were talking. “He called you Dad.”

  “I heard.” It wasn’t the response to his revelations he’d anticipated, but he wasn’t above using Andy as a way in. He wanted to get to know his son and he believed with a little time he could win Addi back, too.

  “He’s a smart kid.” A tear slipped down her cheek and she swiped it away impatiently. “You’re the only man I ever wanted him to address that way.”

  “Does that mean...”

  “I never stopped loving what we had, Drew.” Her words were tender, but she stepped back again. “I don’t think my heart is capable of loving another man like I loved you.”

  Past tense. Damn it. Sensing the worst, he shoved his hands into his pockets to keep from grabbing her. Every muscle in his body was ready to hold and cling, but he worried that if he made a move before she was ready, he’d scare her away.

  “You should know what you’re getting into,” she said, her eyes on their son.

  “Tell me.” Good or bad, nothing she could say would sway him from wanting to be part of their lives, however she’d have him. They had a son who wanted and needed his dad and his mom.

  “The routine can be monotonous,” she began. “School, homework, bedtime.”

  So far, no problem.

  “Moods—”

  “Yours or his?”

  “Both,” she admitted, her lips tilting. “There’s soccer and laundry and meals.”

  “I like to eat,” he said, warming to the topic. “I can even cook.”

  “This is serious.”

  “I know.”

  “A commitment.”

  “I’m ready.” He caught the quick hitch of her breath, pressed his advantage. “Whether you can love me again or not, I love our son. Let me be there for him.”

  “But I want you to be there for you.” She crossed her arms and glared. “What about your community work in Detroit?”

  He shook his head. “Sweetheart, it was a place to hide. Those programs are in good hands, though I wouldn’t mind checking in on the kids periodically. I was marking time, that’s all, just to keep from interfering in the life you’d created without me.”

  “There hasn’t been a day since we met that you weren’t in my life.” She tapped her fingers against her heart. “I’ve been raising Drew 2.0.”

  “And doing a fine job.” He couldn’t stand it; he draped an arm around her shoulder. “Let’s go the rest of the way together.”

  “You mean it?”

  He nodded. “We have another shot, Addi. Either push me away or tell me you’ll marry me so we can get to work on the other three kids we wanted to have.”

  “You remember that?” she asked on a shaky laugh.

  He moved so they were facing each other again. He wouldn’t leave room for any doubts. “I remember everything. We wanted four kids and the farmhouse for summer vacations, and by this time I was supposed to be looking for a unit that wouldn’t send me away quite so often.”

  “We were good at the long-distance thing.”

  “We’re better together.” He kissed her until they were both breathless. “You were going to teach law once the kids were all in school. On our twenty-fifth anniversary I was going to re-create our honeymoon.”

  “You thought that far ahead?”

  “From the moment you agreed to marry me.”

  “Where were we going on our honeymoon?”

  He had her now, he knew it. “Eight years ago, it was Belize.”

  “Oh, that sounds nice.”

  “Now I’m thinking Disneyland.”

  “Disneyland?”

  “It’s a family-friendly kind of honeymoon. We’ll get a suite,” he added with a suggestive wink. “Plus, it puts a positive spin on these major changes in Andy’s life and gives him a chance to say goodbye to his friends.”

  “Don’t say that too loudly.”

  “Why not? Does he hate theme parks?”

  “He loves them,” she said, gazing up at him. Her mouth curved in her most beautiful smile, her beautiful eyes glowing with happiness. “You’ll be an amazing dad.”

  “I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll be half as good as you’ve been as a mom.”

  “What if I’m a lousy wife?”

  “Not a chance.”

  “You sound pretty certain. I’ve been doing the solo act a long time. What if I’m too set in my ways?”

  “Not a chance,” he repeated. “From where I’m standing you’ve been making our dreams come true.”

  “But the most vital piece was missing,” she murmured, lacing her fingers with his. “You.”

  “I’m yours for as long as you’ll have me,” he said. “I love you, Addison.”

  “I love you, too. I always will.”

  “So say you’ll marry me and let’s start making up for lost time.”

  “I’ll marry you.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her soft body to his. “On one condition.”

  “Name it.”

  “Promise me you won’t answer any kind of phone or summons until we exchange vows and you kiss the bride.”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “It’s a deal.”

  “I might not let you out of my sight between now and then.”

  “That works just fine for me.”

  “I can’t wait to be your wife.”

  “We’re getting married?” Andy raced over and threw himself into their hug. “You’ll be my dad?”

  Drew nodded. “I always have been, son.”

  “Yes!” Andy did a fist pump. “Wait.” He stopped his victory dance and stared up at his mom. “Always?”

  “It’s true,” she replied. “Your dad was lost for a long time and no one knew he was even still alive. But he’s back now and we’re going to be a family.”

  Drew had never felt more certain about anything
when she smiled at him that way. All those wishes on all those stars were finally coming true. “We’ll tell you the whole story as soon as we’re out of here.”

  After a brief exchange with Casey, they were cleared to leave, with a protective detail as a final precaution.

  Nothing and no one could stop them now.

  Epilogue

  New Orleans, Louisiana

  Saturday, August 2, 4:45 p.m.

  Addison smoothed a hand over the soft, sleek skirt of her wedding gown, stunned by the absolute lack of butterflies in her stomach. Nerves were expected for any bride, and considering her rocky road to this day, she would’ve been entitled to plenty. But she knew Drew would be there this time and not just because he sent her a text message update every ten minutes.

  She laughed when her phone chimed with another one, this time with a shot of Andy in his tuxedo, practicing serious ring bearer faces in the mirror. She was about to have the happy beginning she’d dreamed of and Andy was about to start a lifetime with his father.

  She thought of the farmhouse they would turn into a home after their honeymoon. They would be a family at last. Complete and whole and stronger for the fire that had forged their relationship.

  “You made the right choice. Then and now.” Bernadette smiled as Addison checked her reflection one last time.

  “I did.” She’d gone back and forth about the dress. Drew hadn’t seen the original, and during the whirlwind planning for today, he’d carefully avoided any reference to their first wedding attempt. She and Bernadette had shopped boutiques and she’d tried on gowns in various styles, but nothing else felt as right as the gown she’d chosen the first time.

  With her mother’s pearls glowing above the strapless sweetheart neckline and the lace that hugged her curves from bust to waist, she hoped to make Drew’s jaw drop. But she hadn’t done a complete carbon copy of the day he’d missed. That wouldn’t honor what they’d been through. Instead of an updo with a veil, she left her hair down in loose waves, pulled back from her face with luminous pearl-studded combs.

  “Take your bouquet and let’s go or Drew will think you’ve left him this time.”

  She laughed. “Never!” As she waited out of sight for Andy and then Bernadette to enter the small chapel, she sighed happily.