CHAPTER 9
“I have some great news to share with all of you,” Tyler began, after they finished their cake and ice cream. Cara sat opposite him with Mary, and Diego sat at the head of the table.
“Tal Culver-Lockwood, is the CEO of Artemis and my boss, Wyatt’s, wife. When I flew back to Virginia, I dropped into her office to talk with her.” He gave Cara a warm look. “I said that when this mission was completed, I was going to turn in my resignation. She asked me why. I told her I’d met a woman that I wanted to share time and space with, and that I wanted to pursue a serious relationship with her.”
Silence reigned in the kitchen. He moved his hands around the mug of coffee. The look in Cara’s eyes touched his heart, and fed him hope. There was such love burning in them for him. Yearning to be alone with her, he went on. “Tal wasn’t too happy to hear that I would leave Artemis. She asked what I wanted, so that if it was possible, I would stay with Artemis. I told her I needed to live in Tucson so I could continue to explore my relationship with Cara.”
Mary sighed, giving her daughter a joyous look. Diego nodded wisely, and Cara was close to tears.
“She surprised me when she said that the Human Resources Department, Mission Planning, and she were in top-secret mode with plans to place satellite offices of Artemis around the world. Artemis has grown so fast, it has become the go-to civilian security company that every US-government security agency hired over a year ago—and countries friendly to America also heavily use our services and connections. All of them wanted Artemis to put smaller offices in major cities around the world. Here, along the border, they are putting an office in El Paso, Texas and one in Tucson and Phoenix. Tal told me that she had just told Ali and Ram that they were going to be transferred to Tucson to manage that office.”
All three of the Monteros gasped. Mary burst into tears as Diego held her. Cara placed her hands against her lips, staring in shock across the table at him.
“Ali and Ram were told about this an hour before I flew out here. Tal wanted me to break the news to you as a family because I’ll be among the employees stationed here, as well. I’m sure, probably within the next half hour or so, Ali and Ram will be calling you to share the details of the good news with all of you.”
“Oh,” Mary cried, “this is such wonderful news, Tyler!” She wept loudly while Diego gently patted her heaving shoulders.
Tyler looked over at Cara. “It’s official. The Building Department at Artemis has had plans for this office for a while. They have been constructing the office on Speedway, near the Arizona State University. In another month, we’ll be moving into it.”
Cara shook her head. “This—this is so unexpected but wonderful. Are you all right with it, Tyler?”
“I’m delighted, to say the least,” he assured her, his voice low and heavy with emotion. “How about you, Cara? Can you stand me underfoot all the time?”
She laughed a little, giddy childlike laugh as she wiped tears from her eyes. “I can hardly speak—of course I can!”
“I thought maybe tomorrow you could help me find a home to buy. Maybe nearby, near your school and parents.” Because he honored the tight bonds of love that held this family through good and bad times, he understood they would prefer having Cara nearby. Part of the reason Cara had been able to overcome her kidnapping was because of the love and support they’d given her.
She smiled coyly. “I have a surprise for you, too, Tyler. There was a beautiful cream-colored adobe home just a half-mile away from here. After you left, I looked at it and bought it. I knew it was time that I get my own place, but I still wanted to be close to my parents. It sits out in the desert, and there’s a two-mile dirt road that leads you to the home. It’s quiet and away from city sounds and lights. I’d like to show it to you after Ali and Ram’s phone call.”
He saw the look in her eyes, that glint of challenge and desire. “I’d like that,” he said, pleasantly surprised. In the two months that he had been gone, Cara had continued her healing and he could see her newfound confidence radiating from her. How she inspired him with her quiet inner strength!
“Good. I’ll tell you more about it on the porch swing tonight,” she said, giving him a happy smile. Cara stood and retrieved a box of tissues from one end of the kitchen counter. Halting at the table, she pulled several tissues and placed them in her mother’s hand.
“When are they going to call?” Diego asked Tyler.
He looked at his watch. “Probably in about fifteen minutes or so.”
“This is all so incredible!” Cara said, giving her father a huge grin. “We’ll all be together, just like we always wanted. And they’ll have to buy a house, too! I’m sure they’ll want something close to you, Mama and Papa.”
“I’m sure they will,” Tyler said, “and best of all, Ali and Ram have both been removed from the mission roster. They will no longer undertake ops. Rather, they want to work for Artemis in-house, providing consultation support, and they can do that through Skype and teleconferences.”
“That’s even better news,” Diego said, joy in his voice. “We worry so much about both of them when they go out in the field.”
“Y-yes,” Mary whispered brokenly, blotting her eyes, “I want my daughters safe. I want you and Ram safe, as well.”
“Well,” Tyler said to her, “I’ve canceled my mission readiness status, too. It’s official that I’ll never go out on another mission again. I’ll be an in-house specialist, just like Ali and Ram, here in Tucson.”
Mary sighed and nodded happily, looking relieved. Diego gave Tyler a pleased look, and Cara stood up.
“Shall we go sit out on the porch swing, Tyler? It’s a warm evening,” she invited, holding out her hand to him as she came around the end of the table.
Tyler rose, excusing himself. He knew Ali would be calling shortly and was sure there would be a long discussion between her, Ram, and the Montero family. “Sounds good,” he agreed, sliding his hand into hers.
*
Cara tried to settle her fluttery stomach. It was nerves, she was sure. She sat down in the center of the swing and Tyler came and sat next to her, sliding his arms around her shoulders. He drew her near and she rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes. “I feel as if this is all a dream,” she admitted in a wispy voice.
Tyler pushed the swing gently with his toe, looking up into the dark sky, the stars a glittering coverlet. “Me too.” He leaned over, kissing her soft, silky hair. “You never told me you moved out of here and bought a house.”
“I wanted to make sure that I could live alone, first. After you left, I wasn’t sure I would be strong enough, but I had to try—and it worked. I’m happy having my own home. It’s been good for me, Tyler.”
“You’ve been coming out of a long tunnel of captivity, Cara. It takes time. Still, that was a huge step to take, especially since you had always lived at home.”
“It was time I grew up, then,” she said, lifting her head and looking up into Tyler’s deeply-shadowed face. The light from the living room window accentuated his high cheekbones and strong chin.
“We’re always growing,” he agreed. “That was a brave step you took. Do you like your new home?”
She smiled a little. “It’s a rather large place, six acres surrounding it, but at night, when it’s not too cold, I open a window so I can hear the coyotes howling in the distance. I love the sounds of nature instead of hearing cars passing by my parents’ home.”
He looked down at her and the silence grew between them. “The time apart from you was a special hell for me. I missed seeing you every day, Cara. Missed whatever you thought about all the things we talked about. God, I was lonely.” He caressed her cheek, holding her luminous gaze. “I don’t know when I fell in love with you, but I have. Maybe it began when I saw your photo when we were mounting the mission to extract you and those German women from the villa. After we got you out of that hellhole, I was pretty busy trying to help the other ladies, but I first saw your strength that night. You weren’t crying like the other women. There was something special about you, although at that moment, I wasn’t sure we were going to get you all out of there alive. Things were dicey right up until we got you loaded into that Black Hawk.”
She felt his fingers lightly touch her cheek. “I remember seeing you, but it was so dark and we were all so scared, Tyler. It was only after you and the other men flew with us in the helicopter that you made such a powerful impression on me. You were so kind and patient with us women. Later, at the Marine base where we landed, I got to see you in the hospital emergency room where we were all taken. It was your voice, your gentleness, that soothed us all. You knew a little German, and you had a way of communicating that helped us all so much.”
He slid his hand into hers. “I knew you were scared out of your mind because Ali and Ram were still back there in the mountains, acting as a rear guard so we could escape. The drug soldiers were hunting them from the villa but we never told any of you that. God knows, you’d been through enough.”
“Yes, but later after I had been seen by a doctor, you came in and talked to me. You told me not to worry after I kept pressing you for answers about my sister, promising me that Ali and Ram would get out of there in one piece. I believed you,” she said, lifting her lashes, drowning in his shadowed gaze. “Tonight, after I get to talk with Ali and Ram . . .”
“Yes?”
“I want you to come home with me, Tyler.” She saw the heat and yearning in his eyes, and tightening her hand around his, she sat up, facing him. “I love you. And I’ve known for some time that we were falling in love with one another. I don’t know how it happened, either, but it did. I can hardly believe that you’re here, and that you’re going to stay here from now on.”
“I want to build a life with you, Cara. We need time to slow down and start living together like real people.” He saw her smile a little and nod. “I don’t know where this is going or where it will end up. I know what I hope happens and will put my heart and soul into it to make it a dream come true for both of us.”
“How would you feel if you moved in and lived with me, Tyler? To really find out what we have? Put it to a test?”
He sat there digesting her gentle suggestion, seeing the hope in her eyes, her slender fingers feeling warm and good around his. “What about your parents? What will they think of us living together before marriage?”
“They know we love one another. They’re not like a lot of people who would prefer that we live apart until we’re married. I told them that if you ever walked back into my life, I wanted to find out what we had by living together, and they agreed.” She looked toward the window. “They love you, too, Tyler.”
“I know they do. I love them, as well. I think you and Ali got lucky when it comes to getting a good set of parents. They remind me so much of my own mom and dad.”
“Then,” she whispered, sliding her hand across his jaw, “when we’re done with Ali and Ram’s call, I want you to come home with me and stay the night—and every night after that. Consider that an invitation you can’t refuse!” She knew she was being bold, but nearly losing her life had taught her that some risks were worth taking. She saw the pleasure come to Tyler’s eyes.
“I’m coming home with you until—or if—you ever kick me out.”
“That will never happen,” she whispered, closing her eyes, feeling his moist breath against her cheek. She lifted her chin, wanting nothing else but his mouth upon hers. Their kiss was searching and tender and she felt deep warmth grow in her belly as she lifted her hand and slid it across his broad shoulder. As she sank against Tyler, her breasts resting against his jacket, she felt him tense momentarily. There was such hunger in his kiss, and yet he restrained himself, allowing her to guide them where she desired. Her lips were a promise of what lay between them in so many ways, and she knew that Tyler got her message loud and clear about what kind of relationship she wanted with him.
Cara heard the phone in the living room ring and reluctantly broke the kiss, giving him a look of apology.
“Come on,” he coaxed, standing. “Let’s go inside. This is a happy occasion.”
And it was, in every possible way. Cara tasted Tyler on her lower lip as she pulled out of his embrace. Shakily, they both stood, and Tyler offered her his hand. He was especially handsome tonight, looking more like a businessman than an ex-SEAL. Maybe that was what undercover work required—being a chameleon of sorts, adapting to whatever the situation demanded of him. But with her, he was always himself. When the three of them got finished talking with Ali and Ram, he knew that Cara was looking forward to him coming home with her. And if she had her way about it, it would be forever.
*
There was a lemon-colored slice of moon hanging in the dark Sonoran Desert night sky, the stars strewn like glittering gemstones tossed across the vault. Tyler spotted the constellation of Orion mid-heaven in its path across the heavens tonight. They parked their cars on a concrete slab, the garage doors closed. Cara explained they had to be opened by hand, but she was going to hire a man to install automatic garage door openers. Looking around, all he could see were patches of creosote brush, the saguaro cacti like dark, tall silhouettes here and there, and gravel and sand surrounding the home.
The house was typical of adobe homes—they looked like square blocks built on one floor, or on several. The roof was made of red tiles, with ten Palo Verde trees planted on the east and west sides of the home. He was sure someone had placed them there as shade protection against the rising and setting sun. In the summer, it could be a hundred degrees or more, and any shade would also cool the home.
It was a well thought out home, but Tyler was also looking at it from a black-ops perspective. The dirt road was two miles long, leading out into the flat desert floor. There were no homes nearby that he could see. Strategically, Cara had chosen well because from the house, he could see a vehicle coming from over a mile away. And the desert spread to the darkened horizon in every other direction.
“Do you like being out here alone like this?” he asked, following her to the front door, where she unlocked it.
“Definitely! I wanted the peace and quiet of nature, not the sound of traffic nearby.”
“Ali is the same way,” he said, pushing the door open for her after she opened it. “You do know that Ali and Ram just bought a house in Virginia?”
“Yes, but they’re willing to sell it and come out here, from what she told me on the phone earlier.” She turned on the lights.
Tyler shut the door. This was a new home with an open concept kitchen, dining room, and living room. Thick golden logs graced the ceiling, typical of this kind of adobe structure. “It’s beautiful,” he said, coming to her side. “Like you.”
“Thanks.” She gestured to the furniture in the living room. “I wanted a home that invited people to sit down and relax.”
“It does that,” he agreed.
She placed her purse in the foyer, inside a closet near the door, hanging the strap over a hook and shutting it. “Come, let me show you the master bathroom and bedroom.” She slid her hand into his, and the look of longing he gave her made her dissolve with yearning.
He walked with her into the rear bedroom. The door was carved in dark-brown wood and he recognized Diego’s crafting skills. There was a rising sun, several saguaros and a Harris hawk landing on top of one, the Sonoran Desert spreading out around the scene. He touched the wood, cool and polished to his touch. “Your papa has been here,” he said, slanting a glance down at her, seeing the pride in her eyes.
“Papa insisted that every door in my home have one of his carvings. He is buying the doors and this was his first. Right now, he’s working on the front door.” Her voice lowered with affection. “He said this way, he and Mama are here in spirit, because he made them. I was so touched by that love and thoughtfulness.”
“This is such a gift,” Tyler said, admiring the man’s artistry. Diego had no academic art schooling, yet, in his spare time—which wasn’t much—he was doing this for his daughter. He was one hell of a father.
“We have talked over what I’d like to see on each door.” She moved to the door, sliding her fingers over the Harris hawk. “I see these beautiful hawks everywhere in the desert. I found out a week after I moved in that there is a family of them less than half a mile from the house.”
“Incredible.”
“Come in,” she urged, turning the brass knob and opening it.
Tyler followed her. He wanted to make long, slow love to this woman as he watched how gracefully she walked into the room. There were gossamer curtains across one window with dark lavender drapes at either end. A cream-colored carpet, nubby beneath his shoes, silenced their footsteps. There was a king-size bed with a brass headboard and footboard. He recognized a huge purple, cream, and soft-blue knit bedspread across it.
“Did you knit this?” he asked, running his hand across the soft angora yarn.
“I did. Do you like it?”
“It’s soft, like you,” he replied, turning her toward him, sliding his hands around her shoulders, and coaxing her into his arms, her lithe body resting against the front of him. He framed her face, looking deep into her sparkling eyes. “I want to love you, Cara. Is that what you want?”
“Oh, yes,” she said, smiling shyly. “But first, let’s shower, okay?”
“Absolutely.” He released her, seeing the burning in her own eyes, feeling the imprint of her body against his. He wanted so much more with her. “Why don’t you use the master bath. Do you have another bathroom?”
“Yes, in the second bedroom at the other end of the hall.” She gave him a curious look. “You brought a suitcase. Do you have some pajamas in it?”
“I’m not going to wear them tonight.”
Laughing, Cara said, “I expected that!” She leaned up and kissed his mouth. “We’ll meet here after you’ve bathed.”