He’d fought them going to Germany, and in the end, he hadn’t been able to say no to her. Stacy took no pride in the use of her own feminine wiles to convince him. As the taxi drove toward the hospital in Frankfurt, and the lights cut through the dark at even intervals, she glanced at his profile and saw strength in the line of his jaw.
Something had changed him in Manila. He was no longer plagued by the anger.
At glance her way, he whispered, “What?”
“Nothing, just thinking about all that’s happened. Thinking about Mom and Willy.”
“They’re going to be fine.” Hawk answered as the driver pulled into the hospital drive.
Stacy knew, physically, they were both going to live, but the scars were a different story. She held tightly to Moira’s hand. “Willy is strong and he’s easy-going. He’ll be okay, don’t you think? I mean, of all the kids, he’s the one who takes everything in stride.”
Worry gnawed at her, though. Would that be good or bad? Would he too easily hide the effects?
Moira pulled her earbud from her ear. She’d had them in a lot since they left Manila, and even that worried her. “He’s probably already bragging about his scar, Mom.”
She chuckled. And the car came to a full stop. Hawk got out and held the door open for Stacy. She dragged her purse off her shoulder and went around him to pay the driver. Hawk had a hand on her shoulder as they hit the lobby. He’d been doing that a lot, too.
Just small touches, the kind that had disappeared after the first five years of marriage. Sleeping in each other’s arms, when typically, he kept to his own side. Holding hands.
She knew it wouldn’t last, so she was soaking it all in.
Her dad stood inside the doors, waiting for them, and she hurried to him. He opened his arms and hugged her, hard. “Dad.”
He kissed the top of her head, looking up to find Hawk behind her.
“Nathan. How are you son?” He pulled her to his side to greet Hawk.
Hawk gripped the man’s hand. “Hanging in there.”
Her dad nodded and then gestured to the elevators. “Upstairs. Everyone’s waiting for you.” His eyes twinkled when he smiled, holding his arm out for Moira, who took it just like a little princess.
Hawk went for Stacy’s hand as they followed the two upstairs. She leaned into him, needing his presence there to remind her…they were alive. Cortez was dead. Really dead this time.
Two doors down from the elevators on the second floor, her dad stopped. “Here we are.”
Stacy had the craziest impulse to run away. She didn’t like seeing the evidence that what they did in this world could wreak havoc on her own family. The guilt was there.
“We overcome, Stacy. We don’t forget. We don’t play the blaming game. We don’t stop doing what we do. We just overcome.”
On a deep breath, she nodded. “I know. Just hard.”
“They’re waiting, though.”
Tears pricked her eyes. “Yeah,” she said, and went into the brightly lit room full of all the people she loved most. Willy came limping at her, his leg wrapped in white bandage. She took his weight, hugging him hard. “My brave, brave boy.” She kissed his face until he squirmed away. “How are you feeling, Willy?”
“It’s fine. I’m fine.”
“Who taught him that?” Stacy rolled her eyes. “Well, if you’re fine, I guess you won’t need ice cream on the way home.”
“Mom.” He lifted his brow.
“Fine. Pizza? Burger? You can have anything you want.”
A light came to his mischievous five-year-old eyes. “Anything?”
“You’re being ridiculous, Mom,” Moira finally spoke up.
Maybe she was. She didn’t care. Holy crap, there was a part of her just barely holding it together. And then there was her John, standing in the corner, quiet…thoughtful. Taking it all in, and she knew, still processing and wondering and probably blaming himself.
Hawk moved around her and went to him, held out his man’s hand for his son to take. John looked from that hand to his father’s face. And then he finally took it, and Hawk dragged him into an embrace. “Thank you, John,” Hawk whispered to their son.
And Stacy finally blinked at the tears and wiped them with a shaking hand.
John’s eyes were squeezed shut, wet from the emotions he couldn’t hold in anymore. “I’m so sorry, Dad.”
Hawk braced his hands on his son’s shoulders and spoke quietly. Words only for John to hear. John nodded and relief filled his eyes. They hugged again, and then John broke free to come and hug her.
“Well, this is a fine reunion,” her mom piped up from the bed. She was also wiping tears away. “It’s just like hard times to bring a family closer together, don’t you think, William?”
Her dad nodded. “Yes, ma’am. That’s the truth.”
Her mom looked better than she’d expected for a sixty plus year old woman who had been shot. “What are the doctors saying, Mom?”
“I’ll be here a little while. Nothing for you to worry about, dear,” she said sternly. “I want you to take the kids back to the house. Get them out of this place. And then you go home.”
Stacy glanced at Hawk. “We’ll talk, Mom. We want to be here to help while you recover.”
“Pshh.” Her mom waved a hand. “I’m as strong as an ox.”
Her dad would worry. He was the worrier. And he was the one who would have to deal with her, too. “We’ll see.”
She leaned down and kissed her mom’s cheek.
“First things first, though. I do think we’ll get these kids out of your hair until tomorrow.”
“They’re no trouble, Stacy.”
“I know, Mom,” she said, and laughed at how that sounded oh-so-familiar. “I love you. Get some rest. Talk to Dad. He looks a little lost. We’ll be back tomorrow.”
Hawk had Willy in his arms, for no reason—probably—except that he was feeling the dig of those emotions, just like she was.
***
They registered for two connecting rooms and settled in at the nearest hotel.
Hawk didn’t spare any expense this time. He just wanted things to be convenient and hassle free, so they ate dinner at the restaurant on the street across from the hotel. The kids talked the whole time, and he let them. All he wanted to do was sit back and watch, everything, everyone.
Stacy. Who was holding it together so well, had that intense aura of needing some serious down time soon. He was looking forward to a little down-time himself...especially with her. But he liked to call that up-time. He cleared the snerk from his throat and found her looking at him. She gave him a look of question, which he shrugged off.
Then he reached over and touched her hair.
The need to touch was a sharp knife against his heart.
He smiled back at her, lighting that familiar heat in her eyes. Letting her know that he intended to have her tonight.
A blush rose on her neck, and she turned away to continue the conversation with John about learning to fly with Grandpa. Willy interrupted at fairly regular intervals. And it was Moira who stayed quiet.
Hawk imagined it was going to be a minefield of ups and down, emotions, stress, and conversations before life seemed normal again. Until the kids felt safe.
Awful as it sounded, he was glad it had happened here. He wanted to bundle them all up and take them home. Their home would always be the one safe haven. No matter what, his kids would know that there, in Raleigh, on their farm, they were safe.
“Hawk?”
He looked up into her eyes. “Yes?”
“I said, I think we’re all ready to go crash.”
He looked around and they were all staring at him. His hand was still entwined in her hair, and he let go. “Of course. Let’s go.”
She hugged him. “You okay?”
She smelled good, too, and he didn’t stop himself from taking her into his arms like he might have if everything about this moment were normal. He buried his face in her neck, breathed in her scent, and then kissed the soft skin under her ear.
Just for a minute. Just as a preview.
Letting go, she took his face and kissed his lips—soft, warm, and intimate. She made that little humming noise in the back of her throat. “I know just how you feel. Come on.”
They walked out with the kids, stopping to pay before they left.
This was where his life started. With these people.
They accepted him, damaged goods and all.
He really was the luckiest man on earth.