Page 114 of SEAL of Valor

Is he thinking about how he nearly lost his life on that boat? Is he wondering what would have happened had he not been here to fight alongside his team?

I thread my fingers through his and squeeze gently.

He squeezes back, though his attention remains on the men getting into the SUVs.

“She’s not doing anything now,” Garrison says. “Let’s just hope they keep better track of her sister and Marcus’s brother.”

“Can we just take a minute and point out how weird that is?” Sawyer leans back against the railing. “Ash is Brenda’s sister, and she was dating Marcus’s brother, Max. Yet we can be pretty confident—given her response to his death—that Brenda was seeing Marcus.”

“I don’t even want to begin to unpack any of that,” Ryker says.

“Same. I’m too tired.”

“Just saying, it’s weird. Did Max and Ash meet when he went to work with Brenda? Or did they know each other first? Lots of questions over here.”

“That only you have, Cable Guy,” Weston replies.

“I bet Max and Ash met when Brenda escaped,” I add.

Sawyer snaps the fingers of his good arm and points at me. “Yes! Exactly!”

Weston rolls his eyes. “Don’t encourage him,” he jokes.

I laugh, so incredibly happy for the diffused tension. I’ve had more stress in the last twenty-four hours than I ever want to experience again.

As Sawyer continues painting a picture of what he thinks happened, I lean against Weston’s shoulder and close my eyes, letting myself drift as I focus on the fact that everything is over.

My mom is safe.

The team is alive.

Weston is here.

And we have our entire lives ahead of us.

“Reese?”

“Huh?” I straighten from where I was leaning on the porch, blinking rapidly to clear the sleep from my eyes. Weston is still beside me, though the activity that had been going on is over. There are no police cruisers remaining, and the ambulance is gone.

Pastor Reeves is standing in front of me, though, a sympathetic smile on his face. “Hey, Reese. I just came out to make sure you guys were all okay. That was—” He shakes his head. “I don’t have words. God is good, though, and I am so glad you are all okay.”

“Thanks.” I yawn and stretch, then look over at Weston, who is watching me with a smile on his face. “Sorry I fell asleep on you.”

“Don’t be. Holding you is my favorite place to be.”

My heart swells, eyes filling with tears of joy. The rest of my life will be spent with this man, I know it, and from the look he’s giving me? He knows it, too.

Which gives me a crazy, wonderful idea.

I turn to Pastor Reeves. “Are you busy right now?”

He looks around. “Can’t say that I am.”

“Think you can spare a few minutes?”

He grins. “I would say so. What do you have in mind?”

I turn to Weston. Fear tries to claw its way up, and I push it aside the moment I look into his eyes. “Marry me. Again,” I add quickly.