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“I do too, Christy,” he said softly. “I really do too.”
“Is he going to make it?” Christy asked, and her fingers clutched in Sharon’s as she waited for the answer.
“The doctors won’t say for sure. But he made it through the surgery, so he has a fighting chance.”
“You did what you had to do in order to survive,” Max said, and his voice had lost all the teasing from his banter with Kiki and Jax. “Abram was going to kill you both then try to burn down the barn to hide it. If he had succeeded, he could have gone on his killing spree for who knows how long. We will never know how many lives you saved by stabbing him.”
“It was such a horrible feeling.” Christy shuddered. “I never want to feel that again. Like ever.” She gave Sharon a pleading look. “How do you feel about going vegetarian? At least for a little while. I don’t think I’ll even be able to cut into meat again. Like ever.”
“Okay.” Sharon chuckled and kissed Christy’s temple. “You’re the only one of us who can cook anyway, so it’s not like I can take over there. Whatever you want, sweetie. If you cook it, I’ll eat it.”
“Wait,” Logan piped in from his seat on the porch rail. “Really, Mom? No more meat? Like ever? But, but, I…. No more fried chicken? Or corned beef? What about the BLTs? You wouldn’t stop making your BLTs, would you?” More laughter.
Logan and Luke had taken off for a talk after Abe had been hauled away, and when they’d come back after more than an hour, both of them were tear-stained and a little worse for wear. Seeing them choose joy now, laugh, it gave her a warm sense of hope. They would heal. They all would.
For now, for tonight at least, they were alive, and that was reason enough to be grateful.
Epilogue
Two years later
Andie heldher breath as she slipped her hands from under the impossibly tiny body of her newborn daughter. It wasn’t yet dawn, and she was praying this last diaper change and feeding would score her at least one more hour of sleep. Just one. But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Penelope Ann Baxter let loose with her siren wail the minute Andie’s hands slipped free, and she was so exhausted Andie felt like crying with her.
“Come on, Penny,” Andie pleaded. “You’ve been on this planet for over three weeks, and you’ve been awake for all of it.” She scooped the small, squirming, and angry bundle back into her arms and headed for the rocker to try again.
“Here, sweetheart.” Luke’s sleep-darkened voice entered the room before he did and soothed them both. “Let me take her. You go back to bed.”
“But… no,” Andie protested even as he expertly transferred the baby from her shoulder to his. “It’s not fair. You get up all the time with her. You need sleep too.”
“I’m fine, honey.” The little traitor in his arms wasn’t making a peep. No, she looked as angelic and tranquil as a summer breeze now that she’d gotten her way and Daddy was here. “Don’t you worry about me. You’re still healing. Go back to bed. I’ll be there in a bit.” But she didn’t want to leave them, so he compromised, and within a few moments the three of them were snuggled into bed with the baby cooing like a dove while they played with her tiny toes.
“I love this.” His whisper was revertant.
“Right?” she whispered back. “She’s got the cutest piggies on the planet.” Andie’s silver-and-gold bracelet glinted in the pale light and caught their attention. Kiki had made it for her—a delicate weaving of precious metals—to replace the hospital band she had been unable to remove. Luke briefly traced his thumb over their first daughter’s name. It was beautifully entwined within the design, and her heart melted all over again. He did that often. Watching a movie on the couch, or when refilling her coffee, he would trace the letters, and it connected their child to the moment, made her a part of it. Remembered.
“All this,” he said, and his face was beautiful in the predawn light, all strong bones and stubble. “You, and lil Penny-pants here. This right here, under the blankets and warm with my son down the hall and our daughter tucked in between us. This is my idea of paradise.”
“It is pretty perfect, huh?” Andie sighed. Penny was a warm ball of love nestled between their hearts, and she realized Luke was right. The sun was just breaking the grip of night and streaked rosy warmth across where they lay, and Andie basked in it like a contented cat.
She agreed with Luke. This was paradise.
