Page 105 of SEAL of Valor

“And?”

“He went home with that little girl three days later and has been living a happy life ever since.”

He beams at me. “That’s my girl.”

My girl. Oh how that makes my heart flutter. “I never stopped, you know.”

“What?” he asks, then eats another fry.

I swallow hard. Is this going to be a mistake? But then I recall everything we’ve been through together. Not just the near-death experiences of the last week, but everything before.

Late nights sitting under the stars together as teens.

Getting pregnant.

Getting married.

Losing the baby.

The annulment of a marriage that had barely begun.

Yet here we sit. Side-by-side. Because no matter what life throws our way, I have to believe that this is where we belong.

Together.

So, with that in mind, I meet his gaze. “Loving you. I know that things might not go our way, and Brenda might win, but I just need you to know. That, no matter what happens, I love you with everything that I am, Weston Hayes. And I’ve loved you even before I was old enough to know what love was.”

Weston’s expression shifts, the amusement fading as something else slips into place. For a brief moment, I worry that I’ve pushed too far too fast. But then he reaches up and cups my cheek.

“I never stopped loving you either, Reese. Living without you these past years has been little more than half a life. But I see now that I was just buying time until you were where you belonged. With me.”

I smile as he leans in, then close my eyes when he takes my lips with his. The soft scraping of his beard against my skin is a welcome reminder of the man he’s become. I sink into the kiss, into this moment with him, reveling in the silence before the storm.

An explosion outside shakes the barn, and the horses go haywire. They stomp their feet, calling out and spinning around in their stalls.

Weston is on his feet in an instant, taking me with him and tugging me to the ground beneath the shelter of his truck.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know.” He starts to inch forward, around the truck, but I grip his hand.

“Where are you going?” Panicked, I stare up at him. She’s here.

“I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

Swallowing hard, I reluctantly release his hand and watch as he peers through two boards to the outside. His phone rings, but he doesn’t say a word when he answers and presses it to his ear.

“We’re coming out. Cover us.” He shoves his phone into his pocket and reaches out for me. “Stay low. Move fast. No matter what you hear or see, do not stop running until you reach the house, okay?”

I nod, hoping that my legs will carry me that far. Though I know that, if they don’t, Weston will be right there to make sure I make it. I just hope he does, too.

Instead of pulling me toward the doors, though, Weston tugs me toward the back of the barn. He drops down to his knees and uses his boot to kick out the bottoms of a few boards. “I loosened them just in case we needed an extra exit. I hoped we wouldn’t.” He takes a deep breath, then lets it out. “I’m going to crawl out first. Wait for my signal; then follow.”

I nod and wrap both arms around myself while he slips out from beneath the now broken board.

“Okay, Reese, come on out.” Without hesitating, I drop down into the dirt and scoot beneath the free space. Hard dirt and small rocks bite into my skin, but I don’t make a single sound as I climb out and into the darkness.

In the distance, flames climb up into the night sky. They’re a few miles away, in the direction of—“Oh no, your house!”