Page 38 of Securing His Family

How did he always seem to know what she was thinking? Maybe because he knew her. Like no one in her life had.

“All clear,” Steve announced.

Lauren lifted her head from where it was buried against Reed’s chest and looked around. Patrick wasn’t anywhere to be seen and Andy, a very bruised but very alive Andy, stood in front of the trio.

“You’re okay?” she whispered, not taking her eyes off him, but hugging her daughter tight, not wanting to let her go. “I thought…”

“I’m good,” Andy assured her. “You want me to take her?”

“No, I need her.”

“Of course, take all the time you need,” Andy said.

Andy, Steve and the others walked out, then it was just the three of them. “Are you sure, you’re okay?” she asked adjusting her hold on Charlee so that she could get a good look at him. Her eyes widened when she saw that he was wearing hospital scrubs, the top of which had a blood stain on it. “Reed! You’re bleeding.”

He shrugged. “Worth it. We don’t have much time before the authorities come, but I need to tell you both something.”

Her stomach dropped at the seriousness of his tone and she clutched Charlee a little tighter, her daughter squirming against her hold.

Was he about to tell her what she’d feared from the beginning, that getting involved with her and Charlee was too much? Considering what he’d just gone through, it wouldn’t surprise her if he did, and if that was the case, then she would survive—somehow. “What?”

“I don’t ever want to go through the last couple of days ever again. I can’t live without you Lauren and Charlee Wishart. I love you both so much. I know, after what you’ve been through that it’s a lot to take in, but I can’t go another day without telling you how I feel.”

Lauren blinked a few times, sure that she’d somehow slipped into a dream again. Had Reed really said that he loved her? It didn’t seem possible. How could he with everything she’d put him through.

“You love me? Us?” she had to ask.

“With my whole heart. I love you and I love Charlee. Me leaping into a fake engagement with you wasn’t a hardship because it’s what I wanted. I want to make it real. When you’re ready.”

This man.

Reaching beneath the collar of her shirt, she pulled out the necklace with the ring Reed had given her still hanging from the gold. She opened the clasp, slid the ring off and held it out to him.

The light that had been in his eyes dimmed at the action. “Lauren?”

“Ask again. For real.”

He smiled a full wattage, one that turned her insides into a bowl of jelly. Beside her Charlee was bouncing up and down, something Lauren was pleased to see.

Reed took the ring from her. “Lauren, I could say all the pretty words in the world, but these are the only ones that matter. I love you with my whole heart. Will you and Charlee let me become your family? Will you marry me?”

“Yes! I love you Reed!” Charlee screamed, and Lauren laughed, her heart melting at hearing her daughter’s declaration of love for Reed.

It stunned her that she could feel this way when not that long ago she believed she and her daughter were about to die. She knew it was adrenaline pumping through them both, but Lauren had no doubts about the man who’d asked her the question she never believed she would ever hear.

She grabbed Charlee’s hand, needing her daughter to know she was part of this decision making with her. “Reed, I don’t know what I did to deserve you but I have you and I’m not letting you go. I love you completely. You make me feel things I never thought I could. Charlee’s already told you what she wants. There’s no doubt in my mind I want the same. Yes, I would love to marry you.”

A second later the ring was on her finger and his lips were on hers sealing their commitment to each other.

No matter what the future held, Lauren knew that after what she and Charlee had just gone through, this man holding her, would always be by their side.

Epilogue

Lauren couldn’t believe that she and Reed just got married. It had been a whirlwind eight weeks since she and Charlee had been kidnapped by Patrick.

Reed had ended up back in the hospital, as the wounds on his leg and stomach had reopened. They’d been walking out of the cabin after she accepted his proposal when he’d all but collapsed.

Charlee had freaked out when it happened and started sobbing. Lauren wanted to help Reed, but her daughter needed her at that moment and Charlee was her priority. Reed understood, would always understand that sometimes Charlee’s needs came first. While Steve and the others got Reed back to the car, she calmed her daughter and reassured her that Reed would be okay. That they would go to the hospital as well.

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