Epilogue
Miri realized that she had lost the attention of her marching band. They still stood on the grassy field in front of her, beneath a cloudless sky in a soft, warm breeze that ruffled their tees and shorts, but they certainly weren’t looking at her. They looked past her toward the school parking lot.
She turned to see what had their attention before calling them to order. Her heart lodged in her throat.
Gil York, in full dress uniform, looking as he had at Al’s funeral, was watching from the edge of the field. She gaped at the sight.
“Don’t mind me,” he called. “Just a spectator.”
Giggles ran through the band, letting her know that not all of them quite believed that. Why not? At the moment she hardly cared. A glance at her watch told her they had twenty minutes left before parents would arrive to pick up their kids.
But Gil’s presence had diverted her, just as it had her students. She hadn’t expected him, although lately they’d been talking more and more about him coming to visit, about a long-term future together.
But without warning? She tried to key in on where they were in the process of learning their marching patterns and where she wanted to go from here.
The band’s formation had started to get a little sloppy. Girls were whispering to each other and eyeing Gil as if he were a cake.
The beginning of the school year was always hardest. These students hadn’t even started their classroom semester. They showed up for these camps because it was a requirement for those who wanted to be in the marching band.
“Dress right,” she called out. “Straighten out those ranks.”
Before long, they’d feel the entire performance. Their steps would come naturally and they wouldn’t have to keep checking one another to make sure they were in the right place. But first they had to get all this correct more than once, and they were just beginning. By the first football game, they’d be impressive.
So she walked them through another ten minutes of evolutions, then had to follow everyone into the band room. Instruments needed to be put away in their cages or packed up to go home for practice, and she had to make sure that the last band member’s parent had arrived to take him or her home.
It felt like everything had slowed down to sludge. Her mind was silently ordering her students to hurry it up, even though they were having their usual relaxed gab sessions as they put everything away. All she wanted to do was see Gil.
She could hardly maintain her usual composure. Impatience was swamping her, but at last the final student walked out the door. Just as she picked up a few items from the floor and prepared to turn out the lights, she heard Gil.
“Miri.”
She turned slowly, a piece of crumpled paper in her hand. “Tell me it’s not another funeral,” she said, indicating his uniform. God, he looked good in it. Her mouth was growing dry and she reached for a bottle of water on the corner of her desk, making herself swallow, making herself wait.
“It’s not a funeral. And look, no cane.” He held out his arms.
Her throat tightened. He’d come to tell her he was going back on active duty, and then she’d have to decide whether to follow him or stay here or... “That’s truly great news,” she said honestly, even though his unannounced visit was raising unpleasant specters in her mind.
“Stop catastrophizing,” he said. He closed the distance between them and drew her into his arms. “I’ve waited so long for this,” he whispered. “So long.”
Every other thing in the world flew from her mind as they kissed, as she nearly tried to burrow into his strength.
“I love you,” he said, lifting his head. “I truly love you, and I don’t care what I have to do, we’re going to make this work. Unless you don’t—”
“Oh, I do,” she said swiftly, without any lingering doubt. Her heart felt as if he’d just filled it with helium and it was rising into the sky. “I love you, Gil. I love you, love you, love you, and I’ve missed you so much every single minute of every day.”
He smiled down into her eyes. “I have choices, Miri, and some of them involve staying here in Conard County. We can discuss that later. What I want to know is will you marry this broken soldier and make him the happiest man on earth?”
Her heart sang. “Yes. Absolutely.”
“Kids, too?” he asked.
“Kids, too.” Then she leaned into him, letting him surround her with his power and strength.
She thought of Al, suspected he’d wanted to encourage this and decided he must be feeling smug right then.
But an instant later she forgot everything else except the man who held her and had just promised her the best of all possible futures.
* * * * *
Don’t miss other stories in Rachel Lee’s
emotional miniseries,
CONARD COUNTY: THE NEXT GENERATION, available now from Harlequin Special Edition:
Keep reading for an excerpt from from by Marie Ferrarella.
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