A SEAL’s Resolve

by Cora Seton

  And get married—

  To someone else.

  “Maybe you should apply to a place in our first aid group,” Scott was saying when Hope focused on him again. “With your medical knowledge you’d be a big help. You wouldn’t believe how many people manage to injure themselves in the park. Not just climbers, either. People walk down paths and manage to trip and break their own legs. On solid ground. It’s astounding.”

  “I was just a receptionist, and I don’t want to work in medicine. I want to make a change. To work with the animals. To help keep Yellowstone’s ecology in balance. To further research in—”

  Scott frowned. “Yeah, most people say that.”

  “Like I said, I’ve been taking classes in natural resources management…”

  “Let me stop you right there. Hope, you’re Raina’s friend, so I’m going to be frank with you. People have really romantic notions about this job, but the reality is, when you’re a park ranger, most of what you do is be a babysitter. A babysitter whose job it is to keep track of a bunch of overgrown toddlers in adult bodies. Toddlers who drink too much, who start fights, who trash campsites, who miss the toilets when they puke. Adult toddlers who take selfies with bears and bison—as if they were behind a six-inch reinforced Plexiglas barrier rather than five feet away with no fence between them. People with no self-control, no appreciation for nature and beauty. No common sense.” Scott visibly pulled himself together. “Sometimes we get to work with animals. Sometimes we get to make plans to make the park a better place. That’s high-level stuff. With your drive, if you stuck with the job for years, you’d get there, I don’t doubt it. Just don’t go into it with rose-colored glasses, okay? Yellowstone doesn’t need help with its bison. It needs help keeping all those damn toddlers from breaking their own necks.”

  Hope drew in a ragged breath. She had to admit this wasn’t the first time she’d heard something like this. Online forums for rangers and applicants had held similar messages.

  She hadn’t wanted to believe them. Scott worked at Yellowstone, though, and there wasn’t any good reason for him to lie.

  “I know I could do a really good job,” she began.

  Scott nodded. “I know you could, too, Hope. Don’t let me dissuade you. It’s just—been a rough year. I want Yellowstone to stay natural. We all do. Most people would be great with that, too. Then there’s always that one person who messes it up for everyone else. We have to make more rules. More barriers. Make it safer. Keep people away from the very things they came to see. I just—I don’t know. I guess I’m burning out. I’m thinking of changing careers,” he admitted. “I’m done with people. I want to get to the real work, you know? That Base Camp guy is so lucky.”

  “Base Camp guy?” Hope repeated.

  “The one you were sitting with. Curtis. I watch that show every week. Those people have it made.” He shook his head. “They think up something to do, and they do it. At Yellowstone we have to create proposals, write them up, do studies, discuss it some more…” He threw up his hands. “It takes ages to get any new ideas adopted. I need more leeway than that.” He focused on Hope. “That’s what you should do, you know. That Curtis guy? He needs a wife—fast. It’s all over the internet that his fiancée married someone else. You should make him fall in love with you, marry him, join Base Camp and help expand their bison program. Do something hands-on and immediate. Hell, maybe I should marry him.” He gave a laugh that had little humor and a lot of bitterness in it, fished his wallet out of his pocket and drew out a business card. “But if you want to go ahead with Yellowstone, email me. I’ll get you in, no problem.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I can’t believe it’s going to be the end of Base Camp. It’ll make me sick if they let that developer bulldoze the whole thing,” he confessed.

  It made her sick to think about it, too. “Boone’s got a backup bride lined up for him, I think.”

  “Curtis isn’t going to marry a backup bride. You could see on his face he never wanted to marry that woman in the first place. Now he’s got another chance. He’ll hold out for love—mark my words. Guy like that deserves it.” He chuckled. “Heck, I’m not usually this sentimental. Guess it’s the wedding doing it to me.”

  “I guess.” She was feeling sentimental, too, despite her anger at everything that had happened. It was hard not to believe in love when Raina and Ben were doing such a good job at displaying it inside, and it was hard to stay angry with Raina when she knew her friend had only been trying to help. Again.

  Hope was beginning to think she was beyond help.

  “Well, let me know what you decide. And good luck, whatever you do,” Scott said.

  “Thanks.”

  “He’s right.”

  She realized Byron had shut off the camera. He indicated a chair and sat down next to her. “That guy’s right. Curtis will try to marry whatever woman Boone puts in front of him, but he’s not going to be able to do it. Not now. He wants to find true love.”

  She shook her head. “He doesn’t have time to find true love.”

  “He already did.” Byron sighed when she didn’t answer. “Hope, he loves you.”

  “How can you say that? You don’t know anything—”

  “I spend all my time looking through this camera. Filming everything. Watching everything. I know how he looks at you. I know he hardly looks at anything else when you’re around. I know he did everything he could to get Raina to her wedding—to make you happy. If you turn your back on him, you’re going to regret it, and so is he.”

  “But—”

  “Isn’t happiness worth a risk?”

  For the first time Hope looked at Byron. Really looked at him. He was a slim, young, studious-looking man with clear eyes and an engaging smile. He was also quiet, probably shy. He probably knew a thing or two about waiting for love.

  “Maybe,” she heard herself say. “But how can I be sure Curtis really loves me? Raina was the one who set this all up—”

  “Raina got you here. She bought you time. You and Curtis did the rest. Be honest—do you love him or not?”

  Hope took a breath. “Yes,” she said. “I do love him.”

  “Then go find him. Tell him that—before it’s too late.”

  Chapter Eleven

  ‡

  “You can’t get through. The avalanche still hasn’t been cleared from the road. They’re getting close, but it’s not done yet,” Boone was saying. “You’ve got Byron there, right? Is he filming the wedding?”

  “He’s trying to. Boone, I need a bride. What am I supposed to do?” Was the Universe really going to fuck with him—again—after denying him the woman he wanted more than anyone else?

  “If you can’t get through, you’ll have to find one there. I can put a call out on the website. Find someone local for you.”

  “Overnight?”

  This was worse than marrying one of Boone’s backup brides. This was rolling the dice with the rest of his life in the worst way.

  “You’re at a wedding. Aren’t there any single girls there?”

  Curtis paced in a circle. There was only one single girl who mattered to him. The one who’d just walked away from him.

  “What’s my pickup line? Hi, I’m Curtis, will you marry me?”

  “I’m on it. I’ll figure this out—somehow,” Boone said. “Keep it together. Remember what’s on the line. Curtis, this sucks. I know it. But we’re counting on you—”

  “Just tell me where to go, and I’ll do what it takes.” He jabbed at the phone until he cut the call, furious at himself—at Fate—at life for putting him in this position.

  Hell, this was a mess. A complete and utter mess.

  He just wished he understood why this was happening to him. He had a whole heart to give, but no one seemed to want to take it.

  “Curtis!”

  Hope slammed into him, a cloud of peach-colored chiffon that nearly knocked him to the earth. Curtis caught her reflexively and set her
on her feet as Daisy danced around them, barking. “Hope—”

  She dropped to her knees in the snow. Took Curtis’s hand. Daisy got very still, standing like a hunting dog beside her, nose pointed at Curtis.

  “Hope, what are you—?”

  “Curtis Lloyd, will you marry me?”

  She didn’t want to babysit adult toddlers. Hell, that described half of the clients who came to the physical therapist’s office. Adult toddlers who got drunk and climbed behind the wheel. Adult toddlers who thought they could skateboard at sixty-three. Adult toddlers who got into fights at birthday parties they threw for their real toddlers.

  She didn’t want to keep cleaning up other people’s messes. She wanted to get things done. Wanted to be a steward of the earth.

  She didn’t want to exchange one bureaucracy for another, either. When Scott had talked about how long it took to implement a new idea at Yellowstone, she’d known exactly what he meant. The same thing was true at the clinic where she worked. In that moment, something had clarified in her mind: she wanted to act. Not think, not talk, not plan.

  To act.

  Today.

  And every day.

  Even if that meant sometimes she made mistakes or had to change course now and then.

  Scott was right; she could do that at Base Camp.

  More importantly, she didn’t want to give up on love—or wait for another ten years for it to show up.

  She wanted Curtis.

  She wanted to give him a chance. He was a man who cared for others. He’d shown that by the tender care he’d offered a sack of kittens found on the side of a road. He’d shown that by risking his life to get Raina to her wedding on time.

  He’d shown that by opening his heart to her.

  She wanted a man with an open heart.

  Now. Today.

  Not in ten years.

  Curtis stared down at her, his face a mask of confusion.

  “Well?” she asked. Byron had caught up with them. He was filming the scene.

  She didn’t care.

  “Will you marry me? Please? I… I don’t have a ring. I’m sorry—I didn’t have time to plan—but will you spend the rest of your life with me—at Base Camp—together? Raina’s going to stay in Bozeman so there’ll probably be kittens and all kinds of trouble, but—”

  “Hope—are you…? I don’t understand—”

  He wasn’t answering the question. Why wasn’t he answering the question?

  Hope suddenly realized they were surrounded by onlookers, everyone in the crowd holding up phones and filming.

  Curtis was standing perfectly still, watching her, too, the look on his face so blank it dawned on her he was going to say no.

  He didn’t want her after all.

  Icy cold fingers of shame traced down her spine. She’d bared her heart—let the world know how she felt about him.

  Once again, she’d misjudged—

  “Yes.” Curtis took her hand, tugged her to her feet and into his arms. “I will definitely marry you. And even if you didn’t let me be the one to propose, I’ve got a ring. Now stand there so I can kneel down and do this right.”

  Hope gasped out a sound of relief, as her heart filled to the brim. He’d said—

  Curtis pulled out a little velvet box and got to his knees. “All my life I’ve had trouble making big decisions. Making commitments when I knew the decision was going to change my life. I agonized for months before I popped the question to my high school sweetheart.” He waved a hand. “Forget that. I agonized about joining the Navy, and making the call to come join Base Camp nearly killed me, but the second I laid eyes on you—the second, Hope—I knew I had to spend my life with you. You are everything I ever dreamed of in a woman. Being around you is heaven, and leaving you behind this morning—even for an hour or two—was my idea of hell. I’m your man. I hope you get that—” He cleared the emotion from his throat. “I hope you get how real this is to me. I’m your forever—if you’ll have me.”

  “Of course I’ll have you—I just proposed to you—” Hope squeaked when Curtis surged to his feet, wrapped her in his arms and kissed her, long and hard.

  They were both short of breath when they came up for air again. Curtis held up the little velvet box. “You know, it’s funny, when I bought this ring, Rose Johnson—the woman who sold it to me—told me whoever would wear it was going to lead me on a merry chase.”

  Raina, standing close by, sucked in a breath and clapped both hands over her mouth. She dropped them to her sides again and nearly bounced in her excitement. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, I’d forgotten all about that.” She turned to Hope. “Rose gets hunches about couples when they buy their ring. I thought she was talking about Michele.”

  “That’s what I thought, too—except Michele never wore this ring,” Curtis agreed. “I didn’t know I’d be walking halfway across Montana to get the chance to woo you.”

  “Was that why you did it? To woo me?” Hope asked.

  “Damn right that’s why.” Curtis kissed her again. “Worth every step, too. Hope, like I said, Michele never wore this ring, but if you want a new one, I’ll get it for you. Just know that when I bought this—I was looking for you.”

  Hope held up her hand. “Put it on.”

  Curtis took out the ring and carefully slid it on her finger. He grinned. “It fits.”

  “It’s perfect.”

  “Are you sure about this?” Curtis demanded, taking both her hands in his and searching her gaze. “Are you positive marrying me is the right choice for you? What about your life plan?”

  “My planner!” Hope looked around, but Raina held it up as if she’d known Hope would need it.

  “I already updated your itinerary for tonight and tomorrow.” She turned to the right page and tilted it so Hope could see. Everything Hope had listed for Raina’s wedding day was crossed out, and HOT SEX WITH CURTIS was written in the evening hours.

  “I’m down for that.” Curtis chuckled, reading over her shoulder.

  “Better check out tomorrow, too,” Raina said.

  Hope turned the page, and her heart swelled. There was only one to-do left on her list.

  MARRY CURTIS.

  “Ben’s already changed our flight until late tomorrow night,” Raina said.

  “But—your honeymoon,” Hope said.

  “We’ll still have ten days to lie around in the sun. This is more important. You’re only going to get married once, and I’m going to be here when you do.”

  Hope threw her arms around Raina’s neck. “You are the best friend ever.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “You’re doing it, huh?” Anders said on the phone that evening. Curtis had reported to Boone there was no need to find a backup bride, and Boone had fallen all over himself to congratulate him.

  “You really want to marry her?” he kept asking. “It’s been killing me thinking that someone was actually going to have to marry a backup bride.”

  “I thought you were dead set on me doing that.”

  “I’m dead set on Base Camp surviving,” Boone said. “That doesn’t mean I want anyone to be unhappy. I really want to marry her,” Curtis had assured him. “I’ve wanted it for… days,” he ended lamely.

  Boone laughed. “Sorry. That was funny, though. I’m glad you want to marry her. Glad it’s working out.”

  “Don’t put the cart before the horse,” Curtis told him. “She hasn’t arrived at the altar yet.”

  Boone paused. “Are you worried about that?”

  He wanted to say no, but the truth was he couldn’t shake the fear that this time wouldn’t be any different than the others.

  “She’ll be there,” Boone assured him.

  “I sure hope so.”

  “How do you feel?” Anders asked him now. “Getting married is a pretty big step.”

  “I feel… good. I’ll feel better when it’s over,” he admitted, petting Daisy, who lay on the rug beside him. “There’s still
time for Hope to run away.”

  “She proposed to you,” Anders pointed out.

  “Not sure how I feel about that.”

  “You said you told her you were going to marry her first.”

  “Yeah, I did. It all happened kind of backward, though.”

  “That’s life, isn’t it? I wish I was there, man. I’d like to see you finally get to say your vows.”

  Curtis shifted. He wished he was getting married in front of the people who mattered. Wished his parents would be able to be here, too.

  He hadn’t realized he’d said that out loud until Anders grunted. “Yeah. I can imagine. Give me a minute, okay?”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Making one quick phone call. Be back in a flash.”

  “There has to be a drugstore near here,” Hope said late that night, digging into Raina’s little poof of a purse to find her cell phone. She’d left hers with Diana earlier and hadn’t gone back to retrieve it, but Raina never went anywhere without a phone. “I need makeup, hairspray, deodorant—”

  Raina tried to hand her another glass of champagne. “Enjoy the reception first. Time enough for all of that later.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m ruining your night,” Hope said, looking up.

  “Not at all. People are starting to leave anyway, and I don’t think I can dance anymore. My ankle hurts.”

  “I just need one quick trip to a store, and then I’ll make do for everything else,” Hope lied. She needed a ton of things for her wedding, and she didn’t know how she’d locate them all on a Sunday evening. Luckily, Raina’s phone was already in a map app. She must have been looking for an address the last time she used it before they’d both lost reception.

  Looking for…

  “Base Camp?” Hope said. She looked up. Met Raina’s guilty stare.

  Raina grabbed for the phone, but Hope pulled it back. “This is where we ended up turning off the highway. Where we went off the road. You were looking for Base Camp? I thought it was just a coincidence.” She’d known Raina had worked to throw her and Curtis together, but this took the cake.