Page 80 of Heart of a Hero

After a moment, she stepped back and offered a small smile to the others. “I’m sorry. I know this was unexpected, but when I put my hand in my purse to see if I could find a lost lipstick, a diamond-and-emerald dinner ring was hardly what I expected to pull out.”

The others chuckled and made their way back to their desks. Mark held her by her arms to ensure she was steady, then said, “Call Lisa. Tell her to meet us at the school. I’ll drive and then bring you back to your car here.” He looked up at Brad. “You coming?”

Brad nodded. “Absolutely. John and Elizabeth can work on the ones we’re checking and make calls to the others to see who the ring belongs to.”

Mark offered a chin lift to Colt as he escorted Karen to his vehicle. Once there, she stopped him before she climbed into the SUV. He tilted his head and waited as she placed her palms on his chest.

“I’m getting tired of this never-ending mess,” she said. Her face was taut as her lips pressed together.

“I know you’ve put yourself out there for these kids, and?—”

Her body jerked slightly. “No, that’s not what I mean. What we’re doing for the kids is fine. I love having them. I want this to be done for them. I don’t want this to be hanging over their heads anymore. They deserve a safe home and people who care about them.”

He kissed her lightly, feeling her pain. With his forehead against hers, he said, “I know, babe. I want that, too.”

“I’m also selfish?—”

“Karen, you’re the most unselfish person I know.”

She leaned back to hold his gaze. “Mark, honey, I’m selfish about us. After Jeffrey, I didn’t go out looking for another man to replace him. I was happy with the girls. But I also wasn’t opposed to falling in love again if it happened.”

His heart skipped a beat. He wanted to bombard her with questions but managed to stay silent, waiting to see what she was going to say.

“Then I met you,” she continued. “I started to fall. And now I know I’ve fallen. But we can’t get a break in this case long enough for us to just be us.”

“Oh, babe, I’ve fallen, too. I haven’t been looking for a replacement for Benji’s mom, and honestly, I never thought I’d want to bring someone else into his life. But with you, it was easy.”

She lifted a brow, and he chuckled. “Okay, maybe easy isn’t the word. But no matter what life has thrown at you, you’ve been filled with grace and empathy, and what my mom used to call gumption. You are the woman I want in my heart and in my son’s heart.”

Her smile glowed, warming his very soul. “And you are the man I trust with my girls. And now the bonus children in my home.” She sighed, then added, “Please tell me we will all get through this.”

“I promise we will,” he vowed. “When we do, we’ll be stronger. And we’ll be ready to bring us all together.”

“Good,” she declared. “Now, let’s go tackle the next thing we have to deal with.”

Thirty minutes later, they sat in a conference room near the principal’s office. The counselor went to get Zannie and Martyafter Mark decided they should have both together. Lisa sat beside Karen, with Brad and Mark on the other side of the round table.

Marty entered first, his gaze shooting around the room, then landed on Karen, who walked over to hug him. “Is everything okay, Miss Karen?” he asked.

“We just needed to check on you and Zannie,” she said.

Before she could say anything else, Zannie was brought to the room. Her smile was wide when it landed on Karen. “Miss Karen! Hi!”

Karen laughed and opened her arms for Zannie to snuggle into a hug. “Hey, sweet girl.”

Zannie leaned back and looked up. “Did you come to see me?”

“Yes, and Mr. Mark needs to ask you some questions, okay?”

“Sure,” she said but was interrupted by Marty’s soft voice.

“What’s going on?”

“Let’s sit down so we can talk,” Karen said as she ushered the kids to sit beside her.

She kept a hand on each of them before nodding at Mark.

“Okay, guys. We talked to Marty about some of the things that Alan would bring home. Things that you may have seen. Marty, you told us about the credit cards and some money, right?”

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