Chapter Twenty
A persistent buzzing dragged Etta out of an exhausted sleep. Without opening her eyes, she fumbled around on the nightstand for her phone.
“Hello?”
“Etta? Are you all right?” Admiral Angel’s voice carried a note of concern.
“Fine. Just didn’t get much sleep. What can I do for you, Admiral?”
“Come back.”
“Sir?”
“Active duty. Oversee the psychiatric department at the new training center.”
“Sir, Mason already made me an offer to be Medical Director or Sanctuary and while I appreciate the offer, I—”
“Then take it, Etta. Deacon has agreed to come back, full reinstatement with a promotion to run the training center. I have four SEALs willing to leave active duty to become instructors, and Dr. Jonz from Coronado has signed on as well. But I need you, Etta.”
Etta suspected Angel knew that telling her Deacon was going to be part of it would have an impact. It did. She liked it here on Sanctuary, but wasn’t sure about being in charge of things. Management wasn’t her style.
Still, it was worth considering. And discussing with Deacon.
“Can you give me a couple of days to think about it?”
“I can.”
“Then I’ll be in touch, and thank you, Admiral.”
“I’ll look forward to hearing from you soon, Etta.”
“Yes, sir.”
Etta put the phone back onto the nightstand, got up to go to the bathroom, then went into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. While she waited for it to brew, she padded on bare feet to the front door and opened it, intending to step outside.
Only someone was sitting on the front steps. Someone who stood and turned toward her.
“JJ.”
“Morning, beautiful.”
That’s when she remembered she was wearing an old t-shirt with the neck cut out so that it hung on one shoulder and brushed the top of her thighs, no underwear, and a pair of ankle socks.
Not exactly put together, and definitely not expecting to see him standing on her porch. “You’re here.”
“I am.” He walked to the door and looked at her through the screen.
“Why?”
JJ pulled the screen door open. “I told you I was coming back.”
“For how long?” Etta let him take her hand and tug her out onto the porch.
“That depends on you.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’ve been offered a position as an instructor at the new training center.”
“You’d leave active duty?”
“Again, that depends on you.”
She was too chicken to hope and didn’t want to assume for fear of being disappointed. “What does that mean, JJ? What do I have to do with it?”
“Everything.”
“Are you being deliberately unclear?”
He smiled, and she lost her heart to him all over again in that single moment. “Marry me, Etta.”
“Marry you?”
“Yes, you know as in I, JJ, take you, Etta, and all that?”
“Are you serious?”
“More serious than I’ve ever been about anything.”
“But—” She could barely believe this was happening. “JJ, you know my track record.”
“That’s the past and you were with the wrong man. This is now and I’m the right man, Etta. I’m no longer broken and I’m yours for life if you’ll have me.”
If I’ll have you? That was a dream, and one she was terrified she’d screw up. Despite what she’d told Deacon, there were still demons in the dark who wanted to hurt her. She could battle them, and she felt confident that she’d win, but she didn’t know if they’d ever give up trying to break her down.
“But I’m still a little broken, JJ, and maybe I always will be.”
“Then I’ll spend my life putting you back together and one day you’ll be whole again. My love can heal you, Etta. Please. I love you and I want to share a life with you. I’ll give up anything, or everything. Just please say yes.”
“Yes.” Her voice seemed to have lost its power, she was so nervous.
“Yes?”
“Yes.” All at once it hit her. This was the moment she’d longed for, the man she’d wished for, and the chance at the life she’d dreamed of. She wasn’t going to pass it up.
JJ pulled her into his arms. His kiss was sweeter than any she’d ever shared, and it promised so much that it made her eyes tear up. When the kiss ended, Etta wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. She looked out into the morning light and her heart jumped. For a split second, she thought she saw her dad, standing in the yard, smiling at her.
JJ drew back and looked at her. “Is everything okay?”
Etta smiled up at him. “Everything’s perfect.” She looked into the yard again. Her dad was gone. But that was okay. If there was a way for him to know about her life, then he would be smiling because she’d finally found what he wanted for her. Someone to love her and a place to call home.
She had Deacon, and new friends and a man she adored. For the first time since she was a child, she was truly happy and it was because of the people here. That’s something her dad had taught her. It wasn’t the place that made a home, but the people who populated your life.
Etta hadn’t expected to ever find that, but it what Sanctuary was. She’d come here to heal others, but maybe she had done as much healing as anyone and in the process she’d found love and she’d found home.
And there really was no place like home.