“Where are we going?” Emily asked when she noticed Dalton didn’t take the turn that would lead back to the bunker.

She was in the back seat next to Ryan who squeezed her hand, which he hadn’t released since finding her in that underground shelter. “Dalton’s going to drop us off just outside of Falling Rock. My grandmother is going to pick us up.”

Emily smiled. She had yet to meet Patricia Wolbach, even though she knew the older woman lived in Falling Rock not far from the bunker.

Ryan slid his hand up to her neck and threaded his fingers in her hair. “I thought it would be nice to go somewhere quiet and relax instead of a hotel.”

“Do I even want to know why we can’t go back to the bunker?” She cringed.

Ryan shrugged. “If you thought there were a lot of people loitering outside the gate earlier, you should see it now. We can face them later. Let’s hide for a day.”

She nodded. “I like that plan.” She met his gaze. “How did you find me?”

Ryan picked up her arm, turned it over, and rubbed a spot on the inside of her wrist.

She frowned.

He swallowed and met her gaze again. “I put a tracking device in your arm.”

“What? When?” She sat up straighter, glancing down at the spot where he rubbed her wrists. She shivered.

“While you were in a coma. It was protocol. We’ll do the same thing for every one of your team. For your safety.” He narrowed his gaze. “I’m sorry I never told you. I didn’t have permission to divulge that information. I’m sure the government hoped the GPS trackers would never be needed, and no one would ever find out. I hope you aren’t angry.”

She considered his words for a minute and then sighed. How could she be mad when the tracker had saved her life and also proven to be as valuable as the new team suspected? “I’m glad you did it.” She pulled her arm free and rubbed her thighs. “Anything else I need to know?” she said, trying to sound light and humorous.

He shook his head and then kissed her cheek. “No. Just the GPS, and I’m so damn glad.”

They rode the rest of the way in silence. Emily had already given the entire team a rundown of everything that had happened after her abduction. Most of it they already knew because apparently they had been listening to her conversation with Bazil.

It was late afternoon. She was tired. Stressed. Hungry.

When the car pulled over to the side of the road in a deserted area outside of Falling Rock, Emily unbuckled her seat belt, wincing at the pain in her shoulder.

“Are you sure you don’t need an X-ray?” Ryan asked for the millionth time.

“It’ll be fine.” She set her hand on his forearm. “It took a hard hit to the dashboard. It’s bruised, not broken.” She couldn’t imagine what it must look like under her shirt. She hadn’t seen it yet herself.

A second car pulled up behind them, and Ryan gave Emily’s good hand a tug. “That’s her. Let’s go.” He shifted his gaze to Dalton. “Thanks. For everything.”

“Just doing my job.” He twisted around to look at them. “Be safe. You still have your weapon, right?”

“Yep.” Ryan patted his side as he opened the door and slid from the car, helping Emily out behind him.

She was shaking from the stress of the day. She needed food and sleep. As she followed Ryan toward the white Honda Civic, his grandmother climbed out of the driver’s seat. She smiled at Ryan and set her palm on his cheek before turning toward Emily and pulling her into a gentle embrace.

Emily liked her immediately. Warm. Accepting.

“Let’s get you home. I bet you could use some hot soup, a hot bath, and a good night’s sleep.”

Emily’s shoulders relaxed as Patricia eased back and cupped her face with both hands. Her smile was genuine and kind. She wondered how much the older woman knew. Perhaps it didn’t matter. Patricia was probably used to being unable to ask questions. After all, her daughter and son-in-law had both worked for the same secret government project as her grandson did.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Patricia frowned. “Call me Pat or grandma.”

“Thank you,” Emily whispered.

“Let’s get back to the house,” Ryan said.

“Of course.” Patricia had thick gray hair cut in a stylish wavy bob just below her chin. She was incredibly slender, probably due to genetics rather than dieting.

Emily remembered that Ryan’s mother was built the same, as she followed him to the car and climbed into the back seat. He even tugged the seat belt across her middle and fastened her in before settling in the front passenger seat next to his grandmother.

“You didn’t tell anyone you were coming to get us, right?” he asked as Patricia pulled back onto the road.

“Not a soul. It’s getting dark now, so no one will notice me pulling into the garage. You’ll be safe there.”

“Thanks, Grandma, for doing this.” Ryan’s voice was soft.

Patricia shot him a frown. “Doing what? Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t come see me often enough. I love having you. It’s your home anyway. I’ve been your guest for most of your life.” She chuckled.

He smiled, and the view of his profile warmed Emily’s heart. He loved his grandmother. “I doubt when I come to visit you expect me to bring anyone with me who needs to be hidden,” he joked.

Patricia glanced at Emily in the rearview mirror. “Pshaw. Don’t be silly. I love hiding people.” She winked at Emily as if they were in cahoots and the older woman hid people every day of the week.

In ten minutes they were inside Ryan’s childhood home. Emily could feel the love immediately, like a living being in the house. It was comforting like a soft blanket.

“Sit. Sit.” Patricia bustled around the kitchen after pointing to the table. The house smelled fantastic. Rich spices and warm fresh bread.

Emily inhaled slowly, letting her eyes drift closed as Ryan helped her into a chair and pushed her in. She shivered when he gently ran his palms up her arms to her neck, tipped her head back, and leaned down from behind her to kiss her lips.

That was one way to make it clear to Patricia who she was to him.

Patricia was grinning from ear to ear as she set a steaming pot in the center of the table. “Ryan, grab some bowls and spoons.” She returned moments later with glasses and a pitcher of iced tea.

“Smells amazing,” Emily said.

“Eat. You must be starving.” Patricia pointed at the soup as she began to carve the hot loaf of bread.

Ryan took the seat next to Emily and ladled soup into her bowl and then his own. “My grandmother makes the best soup I’ve ever had. One of my fondest childhood memories is wondering which kind she made while I was at school. I would try to guess on my way home and then inhale the scent when I walked inside.” He inhaled slowly, smiling. “Beef vegetable.”

His face lit up as he reminisced, and Emily loved seeing this side of him.

“So, where did you two meet?” Patricia asked as she took a seat across from them.

Ryan cleared his throat. “There are some things I need to tell you, and you’re going to be shocked.”

“Good thing I’m already sitting,” Patricia teased, tucking a napkin in her lap. “Really, Ryan, I’ve been through a lot of crazy things over the years. I don’t think you can shock me.”

“Oh, trust me. I can. How about we eat first, and then I’ll tell you?”

“You think I won’t be able to handle what you have to say?” she continued to joke.

Emily could sense she was a strong woman who wasn’t easily rattled, but there was little doubt she would have her world rocked when she heard what Ryan had to say.

A half an hour later, dishes cleared, kitchen cleaned—mostly by Ryan—the three of them moved to the living room. The home was small. A ranch. But it was lived in. The walls were covered with family pictures. Emily couldn’t wait to wander around, taking in Ryan’s childhood in snapshots.

The sofa was old but in good shape. It was beige, but almost none of it was showing because at least a dozen different pillows and throw blankets were draped over the cushions. Every color. Loved. Worn. Comfortable. The same was true of the two armchairs in the room, all of the furniture arranged in an arch around the fireplace.

A television was mounted above the mantel. The floors were a dark hardwood with several eclectic rugs scattered around. The same hardwood ran into the attached kitchen where they’d eaten dinner on a wooden table with intricately carved legs that matched the spindles on the chairs.

The kitchen hadn’t been updated in decades, but it was clean and loved and she would bet her last dollar everything worked perfectly.

Ryan had pulled Emily down onto the sofa next to him and tucked her into his side, one hand draped around her shoulder, toying with a lock of her hair.

Patricia took a seat in one of the armchairs. She probably sat there every day because it was surrounded by a knitting basket, an end table with magazines and books, and a footstool. “You didn’t answer my question,” she pointed out, smiling at Emily. “Where did you two meet? At the bunker? Because I know my Ryan hardly ever leaves the facility.”

“We did meet there,” Ryan began.

Suddenly Patricia sat up straighter, slapping a palm over her forehead. “You’re the woman they reanimated.”

Emily nodded at the same time Ryan did. He was grinning when he spoke. “I figured you would have guessed that a few hours ago. You’re getting sluggish on me, Grandma.”

“My God.” Her gaze was on Emily. “After ten years? Is it true?”

“Yes,” Emily began, but Ryan took over the explanation, which was just as well.

“The media has been hounding her. As well as religious zealots. And then today some asshole who wanted us to bring his daughter back kidnapped her.”

Patricia gasped, her hand going to her heart. She never took her gaze off Emily. “No wonder you need a place to lie low.”

“We won’t stay long. Just tonight. I didn’t want to drag Emily back through the throng of reporters and idiots camped out at the entrance to the bunker grounds tonight. It wasn’t safe.”

“Of course. And you know you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need.” She shifted her gaze to Ryan. “This is your home, Ryan.”

“I know, Grandma, but you didn’t ask for this insanity at your doorstep.” His voice grew softer, and he held Emily tighter even though she doubted he realized he had stiffened next to her. “There’s more. It’s going to get worse. I need you to be prepared.”

Patricia’s face went completely white, her mouth hanging open, her eyes wide with tears that finally slid down her cheeks. “Your parents…”

“Yes.”

“My God. Oh God.” She gripped her blouse at her chest. “My Trish. Your father. Oh God.”

Ryan released Emily to go to his grandmother, kneeling in front of her and hugging her tight before leaning back on his heels, his hands on hers over her thighs. “Dad is being revived right now. The process takes weeks. He’ll be removed from the reanimation chamber in a few weeks and then be kept in a coma for a month while his organs wake up.”

Patricia sobbed. “I can’t believe it. You weren’t just working on a cure for that disease all this time. You were working on a way to bring them all back.”

Ryan nodded. “Yes. My team. Not me, really. My specialty was in diseases. But others I work with have been preparing for their end of things. Cryonics specialists.”

“When I heard about those people who were reanimated in Arizona, I thought… But I didn’t want to ask you. I didn’t want to hope. I didn’t want to believe…”

“I know.”

Watching Ryan comfort his grandmother was the most touching thing Emily had ever witnessed. She felt like an interloper in an experience that was personal and should have been private.

But Ryan never for a moment made her feel that way. In fact, he turned around and reached out a hand. “I was with Emily when she came to for the first time. She took my breath away. She’s as gorgeous inside as she is outside.”

A tear slid down Emily’s cheek at his words, his declaration of feelings right here in front of the woman who helped raise him and was the most important person in his life. When he crooked a finger, Emily eased from the couch and rounded the coffee table to grasp his hand.

Patricia cried openly now. “I’m so happy for you.” She cupped Ryan’s cheek as he leaned into her touch.

Emily gripped his hand and pulled it up to her chest, nestling it over her heart. She was in love with this man. If there had been any doubt in the world, it dissipated the moment she saw how much he loved his grandmother. No woman would be able to resist a man who treated his mother or grandmother with such kindness and respect.

She was a goner.

He lifted his head and met his grandmother’s gaze again. “I need you to be careful. Reporters are going to camp out front. Religious zealots too. If you have any problems, you call me. You didn’t ask for this. I’m so sorry.”

She smiled through tears. “Ryan, honey, I’m a strong woman. Your parents worked in that facility for many years. I’ve always known something like this could happen. Don’t you worry about your old grandma. I can handle a few picketers and some reporters. Your work is important. So was the work your parents did. I’m so proud of you.” She cupped his face again and then leaned forward to kiss his forehead.

Ryan pushed to his feet. “I’m going to help Emily get settled. She’s exhausted.”

Emily could feel the emotion pouring off him.

Patricia started to push to standing, but Ryan stopped her with a wave of his hand. She slumped back in the chair and looked at Emily. “I keep some bath salts and bubbles next to the tub. Ryan can show you where the towels are.”

“Thank you.” Emily reached for the kind woman’s hand and gave it a squeeze.