Morgan blinked her eyes open, then closed them again. They were so heavy. In the distance, there were voices, footsteps... Smells assaulted her senses. Antiseptic. Medicinal.
Hospital? She forced her eyes open and tried to turn her head. Why was she here?
Where was Eric?
“Hey, beautiful.” There was a rustle, the sound of something scraping on the floor, then he was beside her, his hand sliding gently under hers. “Thought you’d sleep all night.”
“What time is it?”
“Around six in the evening. You’ve been sleeping since they brought you out of surgery.” He swept hair off her forehead, then shifted so she could see him beside the bed.
He was clean-shaven, freshly showered and dressed in a Denver Broncos T-shirt. How long had she been asleep? “What surgery?”
His thumb drew lazy circles on her hand. “You ruptured your spleen. Had some internal bleeding, but the surgeons repaired it. It’s a good thing our would-be kidnappers came along when they did or...” He cleared his throat. “You’re safe.”
Fumbling, Morgan found the buttons and raised the head of the bed a bit. An IV pumped fluids into her hand. Her foot was heavy with wrappings and elevated at the end of the bed. “Did I break it?”
“Bad sprain. It’ll heal fast. As for your spleen...” Eric arched an eyebrow. “You’ll be on light duty for a while.”
Right now, she didn’t care about duty, only about sleep.
She studied Eric instead. Something about him was...different. In the set of his jaw. In the look in his eye. He looked... Peaceful.
Which meant... “Hannah?”
“She’s asleep up the hallway.” His smile brightened. “They raided the camp and rescued her. Our two ‘friends’ left her alone there overnight to come after us. I knew I recognized the guy. He was one of her former classmates. He’s been smuggling antiquities for months, but he’d exhausted the locations he knew about and brought Hannah in to point him to more. Took some shots at me to show her he could. Took some shots at the rangers to keep them busy on the rim and away from the search for Hannah in the canyon.”
It was a diabolical plan, and it had nearly worked. “Why aren’t you with her?” He should be with the sister he’d believed in, searched for, prayed for... “You need to be with her.”
Eric’s fingers tightened on hers. “I told her everything while you were in surgery. She knows we were married, and she’s a hopeless romantic who thinks I’m still in love with you and should be by your side.” He swallowed and his dark gaze pinned hers. “She’s right.”
The jolt of his words spiked her heart monitor. Eric’s grin said he noticed.
But she’d failed him. “I tried to get you to leave Hannah behind.” Safety had motivated her. How was that any different from running from crowds?
He was bound to realize she was weak. The light that had dawned in his eyes the past few days would snuff out.
He leaned closer, his face hovering near hers. “We’d have died out there on our own. Your calls were right, rational. Mine were emotional and... And, well, prideful.”
When she dared to meet his gaze, it was gentle, though a hint of steel lurked behind it. “Morgan, you did everything right.” He planted a kiss on her forehead. “I don’t know what kind of number your ex did on you, but you’re stronger than you think. Also, you need to quit beating up the woman I love.”
He didn’t blame her. Didn’t call her a mistake or a coward.
He loved her.
How was that possible?
“Sweetheart—” he planted a gentle kiss on her forehead “—you are the bravest person I know. There is no one I’d rather have beside me out in the wild. We’re alive because you took charge and faced things that would send most people running for their lives. So what if crowds bother you? You’re not a coward. I’d like to find that ex of yours and have a man-to-man talk with him for messing with your head.”
“I divorced you because I was scared of losing you. I should have gone with you.”
Eric drew his lips between his teeth and studied her. “Would you do things differently today?”
As she looked him in the eye, she knew she would. Fear had kept her from a good man, who loved her. Never again. The Park Service would find a place for her near him. If it didn’t, she’d find another way to make a living.
She needed to surrender her life fully to Christ, which meant not letting fear dictate her decisions. She ran her tongue along her teeth. “I’d—”
“Well, look who’s awake.” A nurse stepped into the room. “We were at the nurses’ station wondering if you were going to sleep until tomorrow.”
Eric dropped a quick wink, then settled in his seat.
This conversation wasn’t over. In fact, it was just beginning.
Go figure he’d find her here.
Eric pulled into the small lot at the tucked-away overlook and parked next to Morgan’s SUV.
She stood at the railing, the moments before sunrise illuminating her in a way that reminded him how much he wanted to spend the rest of his life with this woman.
Grabbing the envelope from the passenger seat, he ran his thumb along the edge. Yeah. This was right.
When he slammed the Jeep’s door, she glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “Didn’t expect to see you until later. Shouldn’t you be packing?”
His leave was over in two days, and his flight took off early tomorrow morning. Packing could wait, though. All he had was a couple of duffel bags. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”
It had been over a week since she’d been discharged. A week she’d spent chafing at not being able to drive, at being treated like an invalid, at being hovered over by both Eric and Hannah as she recovered from the injury that had nearly taken her life. It would be months before she could return to full duty.
She’d chafed at that, too.
But the week had given Eric and Morgan time to get to know each other again when their lives weren’t in the balance. Time for Hannah to come to grips with the fact her brother had once been married...and, as he’d told her yesterday, wanted to be married again.
“You knew I’d be out here as soon as the doctor cleared me to drive.”
Yeah, he knew. It was her favorite spot on the rim, a hidden overlook that allowed for a wide view of the sunrise. They’d spent more than one morning here together in the past.
Eric stuffed the envelope into his hip pocket and leaned his forearms on the rail next to her, their shoulders touching. For long minutes, they said nothing as the world held its breath and the sun slipped over the horizon, changing everything.
Kind of like God had changed him...when he really did send help from the hill above them. Like he’d changed Morgan when she finally realized she could trust in God’s love and Eric’s love without fear of being abandoned.
When it was too bright to face the sun any longer, Eric turned and leaned his hip on the rail, watching her. There was so much he wanted to say, but it stuck in his chest behind a knot of uncertainty. He was about to announce a major life change, one that affected her, as well.
She’d either accept or reject him.
Morgan watched him from the corner of her eye. “You’ve got an ‘I know something you don’t’ look.”
He probably did. How in the world was he speechless? Without flourish, he pulled the envelope from his pocket and handed it to her.
She turned it over, then faced him with an eyebrow raised. “What’s this?”
He could say “Open it and see,” but he wanted to speak the words. “I’m getting out of the army.”
Her expression danced from joyful to incredulous to sad before she reset it to concern. Her forehead drew into deep lines and she returned the unopened envelope. “You can’t do this for me. You’ll resent me. I can’t ask—”
“It’s not for you.” He shoved the envelope into his pocket and took her hand. “Day one out here with Hannah, before everything went south, I realized I want to serve differently. I’m tired. I’m losing myself. I want to...” He dragged his free hand over his head. He was doing this wrong. “I’m happiest here. In the canyon. I want to be with family... With you.” Did she grasp what he meant?
Morgan stopped breathing and her eyes widened, lifting her eyebrows above her sunglasses. “What are you saying?”
“It will take a few months, but I’m getting out. I’ve applied with the Park Service.” He squeezed her hand. “Not because of you. Not for you. For me. You being here is a bonus.”
She swallowed hard. “Because you want to start a family.”
“With you. I love you.”
“And I love you.” Her lips drew between her teeth and she eyed him for a long moment before she straightened and cleared her throat. “You know, I haven’t heard a question.”
Slipping both arms around her waist, Eric pulled her to him and rested his forehead against hers. “Marry me again, Dunham.”
“That wasn’t a question.” The words were whispered and choked, but her arms slipped around his waist and gave him the answer he was looking for.
“Will you marry me again, Dunham?”
She tilted her chin until her lips brushed his and whispered, “One last time. For the rest of my life.”
Keep reading for an excerpt from The Baby’s Defender by Jill Elizabeth Nelson.