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‘Avery Flynn, you are the most annoying man I’ve ever met.’
His heart skipped a beat, then she continued, ‘And the most adorable. And the most infuriating. That kiss. That kiss in the middle of Hachiko Crossing. It blew my mind. I couldn’t think straight. I haven’t thought straight ever since. I want to be kissed like that every day for the rest of my life.’
‘And I want to be the man to do that.’
Something shook around them. Avery frowned. ‘What’s that?’
It happened again. And again. Then again.
Her face pressed back up at the hole. ‘It’s me,’ said Katsuko. ‘I’m getting you out of there. I need to be kissed again and I don’t want to wait.’ He heard her shout in Japanese to the others and the thudding intensified. He turned towards Hiroko. Tears were streaming down her face.
‘Hiroko? Are you okay? Are you in pain?’
She shook her head. ‘No.’
He blinked. She’d just answered in English. Was he hallucinating? Maybe his oxygen level was lower than it should be.
‘I love her,’ he said. ‘I promise you I’ll take good care of her. I know you don’t want her to marry an American. I know you didn’t want your daughter to marry an American. But Katsuko is the woman for me.’ He gave her a smile. ‘She has my heart.’
Hiroko didn’t speak. She just gave him a gracious nod.
A hand broke in and grabbed his shoulder. ‘Come on,’ shouted Katsuko. ‘Hold on, honey. Not long now.’
He was almost relieved when the pounding stopped. The rescuers were too close to use the axe now. But they seemed to use every other tool they could find to try and break the thatch apart to get to them. More and more hands appeared, pulling at the edges of the thatch and doing their best to break it apart. It was tough. Avery could see that. Something that had lasted this long didn’t want to give up now.
Finally there were arms around his shoulders. Katsuko let out a shriek. ‘Avery? What’s wrong? You’re hurt. Why didn’t you tell me?’ He winced as her hand came into contact with his side and came up smeared in red. He sucked in a breath and she must have noticed his uneven breathing straight away. ‘You have a pneumothorax?’ She signalled to the driver as she pulled at his shirt. ‘Get the rest of this thatch away. I need to check him over and get him out of here,’ she shouted to the rescuers.
She stopped for a second and turned her attention to her grandmother, speaking to her in a low voice in Japanese and examining her as best she could.
He couldn’t help but smile. This was her—the woman he loved. Taking charge. Her emergency skills shone through. She would excel in Afghanistan and he would be right by her side.
When she came back to him he whispered in her ear, ‘You’d better have pressed send on that application because I pressed send last night.’
She pulled back, her eyes wide. ‘You did?’
‘Of course I did. Do you know how many guys will love you over there?’
She raised her eyebrows. ‘But I’m only interested in one guy. The thing is, he can’t get over his family history. He doesn’t seem to know that he and I can make our own history.’
An oxygen canister appeared from somewhere and Katsuko slid the mask over his face. He pulled it aside. ‘You have your work cut out for you. I might be a slow learner but someone in my family has got to set a good example. I figure it should be me.’
He slid his hand into hers. ‘Kokoro no sokokara aishiteru. I’d like to have our own saying. How about always and for ever? How does that sound?’
Her brown eyes met his and she put a hand on either side of his head as she leaned in to kiss him. ‘That sounds perfect.’
EPILOGUE
THE BRIDE AND groom had decided to come back to Tokyo to get married. Hiroko was too frail to travel and Katsuko wouldn’t get married without Don being there to give her away.
Avery had reluctantly invited his parents with their new partners, and his sister with her new baby. ‘Don’t worry,’ promised Katsuko with a wink. ‘Any one of them gets out of order, the new Mrs Flynn will deal with them.’
Avery couldn’t be prouder. His bride, in a bright red gown, was stunning. They’d returned from Afghanistan a captain and a major. Katsuko had blossomed in the intense environment. Next stop was the San Antonio Military Medical Center, the biggest and most advanced military hospital in the US.
He lifted the glass of champagne to the room filled with their family and friends. ‘I’d like everyone to raise their glasses with me. I want you all to raise a glass to the man sitting in the corner of the room—a man most of you won’t know.’ He gave a nod of his head. ‘This, ladies and gentlemen, is Dwayne Cooper. Dr Dwayne Cooper, who was supposed to take up his posting eighteen months ago in Okatu, Japan. Dwayne, however, had other ideas and decided to come down with malaria instead, meaning—with one day’s notice—I was the one who climbed on that plane at Hill Air Force base. I had no idea what would lie ahead. I had no idea I’d meet the love of my life and find a woman that I’d want to spend the rest of my life with.’
Katsuko was beaming. Don was sitting beside her in his dress uniform and couldn’t look prouder. Her grandmother was next to Avery and had shed a tear during the ceremony.
Katsuko stood from her seat and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him on the lips. She lifted up her champagne glass from the table and showed it to the guests. ‘To Dr Dwayne Cooper. My colleagues tell me that you’re wonderful to work with, but you’ll forgive me if I have a bias towards Major Flynn.’
The guests laughed and sipped their champagne.
Avery slipped his arm around his wife’s waist. The wedding dinner had run later than expected and the hotel’s full-length windows showed the dark sky outside. He lifted his glass again. ‘One more thing, most of you will know my wife’s nickname. So join me, everyone, in raising your glasses to my own faiyakuraka—Captain Katsuko Flynn.’
He gave a little signal to someone and a few seconds later the sky lit up with fireworks behind them.
Her eyes widened as she turned towards him and put both hands on his shoulders. ‘You got me fireworks?’
‘Of course I got you fireworks,’ he bent to whisper in her ear. ‘Now, how about we re-enact Hachiko Crossing?’
She grinned at him. ‘I can’t think of anything I want to do more.’
And so they did.
As the multi-coloured fireworks streaked across the sky and the guests cheered.
* * * * *
If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Scarlet Wilson
THE DOCTOR’S BABY SECRET
A TOUCH OF CHRISTMAS MAGIC
THE DOCTOR SHE LEFT BEHIND
CHRISTMAS WITH THE MAVERICK MILLIONAIRE
All available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from THE COURAGE TO LOVE HER ARMY DOC by Karin Baine.
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