Page 69 of Sail Away
“Hey, Justin. I’m sorry. But I don’t think I’ll be able to take you and the family sailing on Sunday.”
Justin pulled her in for a warm hug. “No worries. Tell Reid I better not have to ever punch him again.”
Oh, boy. She had no idea if she and Reid even stood a chance. There was so much to discuss, and she had one very major decision to make about her career. As much as she loved Reid, it still seemed doomed.
She strolled down the long corridor, glancing at the names on the outside of the doors. Nurses and doctors and other visitors huddled in various corners, all in deep conversations. When she found Reid’s room, she gripped the curtain, held it for a long moment, and then took in a deep breath. She plastered on a smile and pulled back the fabric.
Reid lay on the bed, raised slightly. A thin sheet covered his body to his waist. Bandages were wrapped around his middle. He blinked open his eyes. “There you are,” he said, licking his lips. “Can you hand me that water?” He raised his finger slightly. It shook.
“Sure.” She brought the straw to his mouth and held his gaze. She ran her hand over his forehead.
“You are a sight for sore eyes.”
She leaned over and pressed her lips to his temple. “If you ever get hurt again and not tell me, I’ll shoot you myself.”
“Since I never want to experience that again, I’ll make sure not to keep that from you.”
Sitting on the edge of the bed, she held his hand, running her fingers up and down his arm. “I’ve never been so scared before in my life.”
“You know what scares me?”
“No. What?”
“Spending another day without you in my life. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She let out a long breath.
“We have a lot of things to work out.”
“We sure do.”
“I want you to know I won’t ask you to give up your job this time. I might follow you around more after I get this shit figured out with my company.”
She blinked out a tear.
He groaned as he reached up and cupped her cheek. “What’s the matter?”
“Our worlds are so far apart.”
“So, we bring them together. Hell. I’ll move to Seattle and live on your sailboat if you want.”
“You’d do that just to be with me?”
“I lost you once because I was an idiot.” He smoothed down her hair. “I’m not about to do that again. It’s going to take some work on our part to figure out the logistics, but we’ll do it. And this time, we don’t have people in our lives manipulating us.”
She smiled. “No. We have family supporting us.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“You know what I’d really like?”
“Tell me.”
“I’d like for us to take some time off and maybe sail down to that island you live on in Galveston. Will you sail away with me?”
“I’ll go anywhere with you.”
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