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The three of them had driven out to the house on a Sunday afternoon. Lesley knew Zane and her family were nervous about the meeting.
She’d done her best to prepare her parents, explaining the extent of Zane’s injuries. Nevertheless, her mother had gasped softly when she first saw him. Her father, his eyes dark with doubt, insisted that he and Zane speak privately. It both embarrassed and hurt Lesley that the two people she trusted most in this world doubted her judgment.
As it turned out, Zane had easily won over both her parents. She never learned exactly what was said between the two men, but her father came out of the meeting, singing Zane’s praises. By the end of the day, Zane had charmed her mother.
Two days before the wedding, Lesley was finishing up the last project when Molly Larabee arrived at her office unannounced. “I’m taking you to lunch,” Jordan’s wife insisted.
Lesley sat back in her chair and relaxed. She was as ready as she’d ever be for the wedding. It felt as if the whole world had been tossed upside down in the past weeks. Everything was crazy, but it was a wonderful kind of crazy. She didn’t know of a single other bride who worried about government contracts two days before her wedding. A luncheon escape sounded perfect.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked, a willing captive.
“There’s a new French restaurant I thought we’d try,” Molly said. “The kids are spending the day with their grandfather and I’m free until five. I figured we’d let our hair down and have some fun.”
After the hectic pace of the past few days, Lesley could do with a relaxing afternoon.
“Just think, next week at this time you’ll be an old married woman.”
It was hard for Lesley to believe, but the mere thought produced a bubble of happiness. “People think I’m nuts, you know. Marrying a man I barely know.”
“I’d marry a man like Zane in a heartbeat,” Molly announced. “Don’t listen to what anyone says. Listen to your heart.” She placed her open hand over her own breast. “I did that when Jordan and I reunited. In some ways Zane was responsible for that.”
“Zane?”
“I never told you how I met Zane, did I?”
“No.” Naturally Lesley was curious.
Molly rolled a chair toward Lesley’s desk. “Do you remember when Jordan came to get me out of Manuka?”
“Of course.” Lesley wasn’t likely to forget that time. Jordan had gone to find Molly to ask for a divorce so he’d be free to marry her. Instead, he’d ended up arriving in the middle of a political revolution and rescuing Molly.
Days before his departure, the government of Manuka had been overthrown. Rebel soldiers closed in around the medical compound where Molly served as a nurse.
In an effort to save his wife’s life, Jordan had been shot, and carried the scars of his adventure to this day.
“Zane was the leader of the men Jordan hired to get me out.”
Leader of the men Jordan hired.The words rang like church bells, clanging around inside Lesley’s head. Her surprise must have shown because Molly elaborated.
“You didn’t know that?”
“No.”
“We were trapped inside the medical compound. Zane and his men were caught in the cross fire and were forced to leave Jordan and me behind.
“I’ll never forget when I saw that helicopter lift off without us. I was certain Jordan and I were as good as dead. There was no escape left. It would only be a matter of hours before the rebels overpowered the men defending the compound.”
“Zane saved your lives.”
“Yes. Not only did he come back for us, but he managed to keep the rebels from overtaking our weak defenses.”
Zane had been a mercenary.
If Lesley hadn’t already been sitting down, she would have required a chair. Not wanting to appear even more of a fool than she already was, she smiled and said nothing.
“That night in the jungle, convinced me were both about to die, Jordan and I made our peace about losing Jeff. You see, I’d never told him how sorry I was.”
“Sorry?” Lesley knew the death of her infant son had devastated Molly.
